I stopped by a fast food place earlier and witnessed a couple of inconsiderate individuals. I believe it was the manager's son/stepson and a friend. Not doing anything too disruptive, but just a basic lack of consideration for others. They were standing in the outer doorway, holding the door open (and thus letting the dirt-filled wind blow into the place every time the inner door opened) and blocking customers trying to enter and leave. Just so they could stand in that particular spot and talk while looking at their phones. They did this for probably 10 minutes.
They were making the customers uneasy. The manager asked them to get out of the doorway and shut the door a couple of times, only to be completely ignored. He finally put his foot down and insisted they move and didn't let up until they did.
Of course, they acted like it was all a big joke and he was a fool for making an issue. It left me feeling a general dislike for the inconsiderate individuals. If I were to ever recognize them again, I would already have a bad first impression.
This is something I try to ALWAYS keep in mind. I don't want to make a bad impression on "the public" unless it happens to be an important issue where I need to take a stand, whether people like it or not. Those don't really crop up all that often in my day-to-day life.
I try to smile, hold doors open for people, say "hello", say "excuse me", and be understanding with cashiers. Even with law enforcers, I just ignore them without making an issue. It doesn't come naturally to me, because at heart (except for my karaoke days) I am a hermit. A recluse. It's not that I don't like people-- I wouldn't be libertarian if that were the case-- I'm just not naturally sociable. Yet I make an effort to not be a jerk in public.
There's an added risk because I'm recognizable around here. People recognize me from my newspaper columns. If I'm inconsiderate they might assume all libertarians are jerks. It might give them yet another excuse to not consider my points (if they ever read the columns). That wouldn't be beneficial. Being considerate of others is a small price to pay... if it's even a price at all.
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Reminder: I could really use some consideration.
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