General News
9 February, 2025
When did we become such nasty pasties?
Life is - at times - frustrating.
Life is - at times - frustrating.
It's not even necessarily the big things, such as worrying about how you're going to pay your bills while the costs of living are rising faster than your pay.
It's the day-to-day aggravations.
Like, and this is a random example, spending 20 minutes waiting in a fast-food franchise's drive thru only to be told the machine that makes your favourite dessert is offline.
There are, of course, more serious reasons why someone, or something, might get under your skin.
But we seem to have an issue in society today where people are blowing up at others.
We have all heard or witnessed a time when a customer was rude to staff.
A now commonplace surcharge on the use of cards rather than cash has some seeing red.
So much so that a few - not all, or even most, but certainly more than none - are letting their anger get the better of them.
Many businesses - big and small - are reminding their customers to be respectful.
Ring a large company these days and you'll hear a recorded message to that effect upfront every time.
They're not doing so without reason.
If this is new - if we are more likely to be abusive of others - you have to wonder where it comes from.
None of us are perfect, we all mistakes.
However, we should draw the line at abusing people who are just doing their jobs.
Whatever the cause of this problem, maybe that's the solution - that we need to see each other not as strangers, but as people.
You don't have to be religious to see the merit in what is said to be the golden rule in every major faith: Do to others as you would have them do to you. It's a good rule.
Have a great day.
Ben Fraser, Editor