RESPECT OR NOT? tHAT'S THE QUESTION

Thursday, February 25, 2016





An old man gets on the bus. He is using a walking stick. He walks all the way to the back, trying to find a seat but all chairs are occupied. In the back row is a father with many kids, each and everyone using a chair. The old man stands in the pathway and is quite irritated about the fact that nobody offers a seat. Being frustrated he taps his walking stick on the floor. Tap…tap…tap…tap. The father on the back row gets pretty annoyed by the sound and tells the man “why don’t you put some rubber on that stick so it won’t make any noise?” The old man replies “If only you had used rubbers some years ago I would have had a seat now!”

If you use public transport often I bet you know about situations like these. Well… not the conversation of course but the fact that not too many people get up to offer their seat to somebody who obviously could use it better. Sometimes it seems respect is something from the past. Respect is for the old fashioned ones. It is really hard to understand why. The funny thing is that the bigger the population the fewer respect people get. That at least is something I noticed lately. Being a foreigner living in the Philippines I can see the differences very clear. When I arrived here in February 2007 I started living in a Province North of Manila. A small municipality where people greet each other when they walk the streets. Always smiling to other passersby. But once I visited cities the friendly smiles became less. Let alone greeting other people. Individualism is rampant in bigger cities. 

Whether it is in grocery stores, bus stations or theaters; put a bunch of people together and it seems they do not care about others anymore. Courtesy is hard to find. This is something I deeply regret. The world would look so much more friendly with people helping others. Small gestures can do a lot. What is wrong with letting someone in line behind you at the cash register who has only two products go first? 

What concerns me most, however, is that politicians became more rude, showing less respect. In parliaments, they just scold each other these days. Thus giving a complete wrong example. They are supposed to be the country’s leaders who people look up to. Not anymore, sad to say. Before I left Holland we had a prime minister who always talked about respect. He used the word so much, it became overkill. And not only did he say “respect”. No, he really spits the word out. “Respect!” You could almost spell each letter as if it were written. Personally, I never liked the man but I have to admit that he sure got a point. He is about my age… Never will I know how he would act in a bus where all seats are occupied.

Love the ones you’re with and be loved in return.