“Civility is not a mechanical act. Civility is a condition of the heart.” ~ Eloquent Bytes by Deborah King
A Dallas lounge made the morning news after they posted the names of individuals who did not show up for their reservations the night before on Facebook. As you can imagine, emotionally charged posts lit up their page. Some thought their decision was extreme and rude, while others appreciated their bold stand saying something must be done to hold people accountable.
Whatever your opinion may be about their decision to make the names of the ‘no shows’ public, most people would agree that not calling to cancel a reservation is poor manners. But, I think this situation reveals a much deeper issue in our society today than a simple lack of etiquette. We have become so focused on our personal wants, what makes us feel comfortable, to the point that we often view other people as nameless puppets who are simply available to meet our every whim. As a result, incivility escalates.
On September 24th I presented a 30 minute program on ‘Civility in the Workplace’ for the Decatur, Texas, Chamber of Commerce. You can view the entire program here on YouTube – Civility in the Workplace.
It seems that our culture has adopted the idea that being a critic is a virtue or that it takes some kind of honed talent to be critical and “snarky.”