Commando Civility has been on a bit of a break for a while, but we felt compelled to come back when we witnessed this fine gentleman clipping his fingernails on the Subway in New York City. Listen closely, you can hear the “click click” above the sound of the screaming children and the subway noise.
See this Common Craft blog post about clever Japanese smoking manners signs.
Much like a Digital Yawn, there are other phenomena that occur in the presence of our digital devices.
Today, we coin a new phrase: “Device Paralysis” – This is the opposite of “Text Walking” – i.e. walking obliviously down the sidewalk while typing away on your BlackBerry or other mobile device. By the way, this is apparently such a problem in London that they have considered installing padded lampposts to protect absent-minded texters.
Back to the point: Device Paralysis is when someone is so engrossed in typing (or reading) a message on their device that they stop dead in their tracks. Apparently, the compelling content of the message takes so much energy and blood flow to the brain that the rest of the body’s functions close down and the person stops moving. Unfortunately (for the rest of us), this tends to happen to people when they are in doorways, or on stairs, or generally in my way.
Besides being utterly annoying, the condition is harmless, so if you bump into someone who is in the middle of a Device Paralysis episode, don’t be alarmed. And don’t bother to say “excuse me” – they probably won’t notice anyway.
Caroline Roberts did a nice piece in the Bostonist called Manners Police: No Assholery Allowed. I love Bostonist’s Golden Rule: “Don’t be an asshole.”
Commando Civility is not alone. Even in New Hampshire, they need to be reminded about civility now and again. Toby Hatchett is doing her part. She wrote a nice piece entitled 2008 Wishes for Port City in the local paper. Here’s a bit of it, but please check it out.
I want 2008 to reflect a return to civility and nice manners. Why, oh why, why, why, must you people walk abreast on icy streets in groups of three or four or more? Can’t you realize there might be someone behind you, in front of you, who needs to pass? This sense of sidewalk entitlement must be eliminated in 2008. Let us make it a priority.
Ahem, OK, bear with me. You cell phone users, we love you. You are so cute. You are so very important. We really do love you. However, may I just say one thing? We sincerely do not want to hear intimate details of your sex life and/or medical treatments. Don’t let us be subjected to this. Puh-lease! Give us all a break. If we wanted to hear such lurid details, we would not be out, but home listening to Dr. Phil and Oprah and soaps. Give us our quiet times.
If you really must divulge such details, can you just, please and thank you, step outside of the line you are in, INSIDE, and do it outside, so no one is captive to your drama queen life? Thank you.
We feel your pain, Toby, we feel your pain.
This card, which simply says “That’s really not the best place to do that,” was inspired by those people who like to hang out at the top or bottom of stairways – especially the steps going into the subway. You’ve seen them: the menu hander-outers, the cell phone talkers, the newspaper sales people. They block the flow of pedestrian traffic and just generally get in the way. Maybe in a desperate act of irony, I should stand right next to the menu guys and start handing out these cards to the subway patrons. I think that I would be the only one getting the joke.
I realized that these cards would also be perfect for those people that do personal things in public (you know, like the public nail clippers), so if you don’t have a “You realize that you’re in public, right?” card on you, you can hand them one of these.
How would you use one of these cards? Leave a comment with your ideas and we’ll send you some – free. How’s that for civil?
OK, this one is really for the New Yorkers among us. We really need people to start obeying the rules of the road (and by road I mean sidewalk) – walk on the right, please.
A Harvard study showed that if everyone in NYC walked on the right hand side of the sidewalk, pedestrian traffic would run so smoothly that the average New Yorker’s daily commuting time would be reduced by 20%. OK, I made that up, but it would definitely reduce my frustration by about 20% and that’s worth it.
Please help the cause by giving offenders a card that says “Can we agree to walk on the right?”
Apparently, when you’re in New Zealand, you walk on the left, but in New York – walk on the right.
Mr. Manners did a podcast on Sidewalk Manners. It’s pretty good. Here are some highlights:
