This isn’t really cutting the line, is it?

Check out Gizmodo’s piece on how Apple iPhone users may soon be able to order beverages at Starbucks via WiFi and skip the line of poor suckers who are iPhone-less.  The story is also at Forbes.  If this is wrong because it’s cutting the line, then I don’t want to be right. 

Maybe you need some help forcing people to be civil…

Maybe you don’t feel comfortable handing a rude person a card that says “You realize that you’re in public, right?” when they’re clipping their toe nails at work – in the cubicle next to you. Or maybe you just don’t have a card on you.

Maybe that rude person is a loved one, but you can’t bring yourself to tell them that they shouldn’t litter by handing them a card that says “I think you left something back there.”

Maybe you just need a little help forcing people to be civil. Well, Commando Civility is here to help! We can send them an anonymous email (from commandocivility[at]gmail.com) that includes the appropriate message and link to the blog. They’ll never know that it came from you (we can blind copy you on the email if you wish).

Maybe the offender doesn’t do email. For a limited time, we will send an uncivil person of your choice a postcard with a Commando Civility message. Again, completely anonymous. Just send an email to commandocivility[at]gmail.com with the person’s name and address and which phrase you want on the postcard. The cost of the postcard and postage is on us for the first 30 requesters. In other words, it’s free.

Please note that phrases (either email or postcard) are limited to the ones you can find on this site. Please don’t suggest any phrases. By submitting or suggesting phrases other than those found on this website (via comments to this website, emails, or otherwise) you agree to allow Commando Civility to use the phrase or the idea, in whole or in part, on future cards, blogs, or merchandise (which may be used for commercial purposes) and relinquish any claim for such use. In other words, keep your clever phrases to yourself.

That’s really not the best place to do that.

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?

New Year = New Look

We’ve changed the look of Command Civility. We hope you like it.

We’d like to know: what are your civility-themed New Year’s resolutions?

Here are some suggestions:

• I resolve to be nice (to those who deserve it).
• I resolve to not bother those around me.
• I resolve to promote civility in my daily life.
• I resolve to give people their personal space.
• I resolve to put down my BlackBerry and listen when people are talking to me.
• I resolve to be respectful.
• I resolve to be aware of the people around me.
• I resolve to _______________________.

That last one is for you.

A toast to civility in 2008! Cheers!

Your BlackBerry can’t love you back.

“Your BlackBerry can’t love you back.” I’d love to leave one of these cards on my boss’ desk, but he’d know it was me. Everyone knows one of these people (perhaps very, very well – wink, wink). They are attached, always and forever, to their BlackBerries. In meetings, in the bathroom (disgusting) and even in bed. In fact, 60% of people admit to using their BlackBerry in bed. Makes me want to go buy more stock in RIM.

By the way a “digital yawn” is when someone checks their device (BlackBerry, cell phone, whatever) in reaction to someone else checking theirs. This is a contagious reaction; just as when someone else yawns, you yawn. Feel free to put that on Wikipedia – just credit commandocivility.com

Wait… I still don’t get it.

So, some people are still wondering: what’s this all about? What are these cards? And what the hell are you doing? Well, here’s the deal. They’re cards, the size of business cards. And yes, they mean business. On the front is the clever statement and on the back is the website address and (on the advice of our lawyers) a copyright statement. Since a picture is worth a thousand words…

You realize that you’re in public, right?

Have you ever been on the train or an airplane and it’s quiet, and all of the sudden, you hear it? That metallic click, click. It’s an unmistakable sound. You know what I’m talking about. Yeah… nail clipper. You hear it (click, click), but you’re not exactly sure where it’s coming from. You’re sort of paralyzed because you don’t know where those little shards are flying. If you turn around to look you might get one in the eye. That’s dangerous — and disgusting.

There are some things that you just shouldn’t do in public. Next time, hand them a card that says, “You realize that you’re in public, right?”

Can we agree to walk on the right?

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:

• Make sure others are not right behind you before stopping suddenly, and move off to the side on busy streets if you’re going to stop walking and engage in conversation.
• people tend to walk in one direction on the right, and in the other direction towards the left
• If you see someone on the street drop something, … be a Good Samaritan. … “Pardon me, sir, but I think you dropped something.” [see our take on that if that something is litter]

I think you left something back there.

This card says “I think you left something back there.” It’s perfect for those litterbugs or those bastards who don’t clean up after their dogs when they crap all over the sidewalk (or in your yard, if you live in the suburbs).

Props to Honda on the “You Dropped This” commercial.

I’m taking back my personal space

This lovely holiday season in New York has reminded us that there is sometimes no such thing as personal space. Our subway ride to work today was no exception. Being face to face — or face to armpit — with people can, under some circumstances, be nice (can’t it?). But on the E train at rush hour is not one of those circumstances. That’s why we decided to make the newest card in a long time. It simply says “I’m taking back my personal space.”

You can give it to someone or just keep it for yourself as a reminder that you want back what is rightfully yours – a little breathing room. You shouldn’t be subjected to a dry hump by a complete stranger on the subway in the morning just because you want to get to work on time.