SOMETHING IN THE WATER?
Posted by Tim Bryce on May 28, 2019
BRYCE ON LIFE
– What’s causing people to become angrier and irrational?
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My mother recently made the observation that people seem to be angrier these days. Frankly, I couldn’t argue with her as I see it too. I would like to believe there is something in the water causing this, but I’m afraid it is a bit more complicated.
I tend to believe it is primarily because we do not promote cooperation but stubborn independence instead. We see this on the road where people like to block traffic, cut in line, or do anything that suits their specific needs. We see this in public schools with a lack of discipline, lack of enforced dress codes, and lack of respect for teachers and others. Students are not being taught how to cooperate, other than in sports. Even then, there seems to be greater encouragement for individual achievement as opposed to team effort. However, I would remind people that every state High School athletic team championship I’ve ever seen is won by cooperation, not by individual effort.
We see stubborn independence just about everywhere, including the politics of the corporate world, someone seeking petty notoriety in a nonprofit organization, or even in the supermarket where people clog the aisles to suit their personal needs, with no concern whatsoever for others around them . All of this means people have become self-aware of their own needs and desires, and lack empathy for others.
This reminds me, ever notice in the supermarket, there always seems to be one person you cannot elude who constantly blocks your path? No matter how you try to alter your path through the store, you inevitably run into the same person time and again. I don’t mean to sound paranoid, but I tend to believe the store assigns “blockers” to shoppers to assure we spend more time in the store purchasing more stuff than we really need. Wouldn’t it be nice if they painted a dashed line down the middle of the aisles to suggest people stay on one side or the other? It would be an interesting experiment to say the least.
The second aspect of our anger deals with our dependency on technology. Whether I’m in a company, a store, or on the highway, people are plugged-in and tuned out. It is no small wonder our socialization skills are deteriorating as people prefer their technology over human contact. Such a shift signals the decline of such things as common courtesy and manners.
The third and final aspect with anger is our declining moral values which includes respect for the human spirit. Gallup polls clearly show religion and morality have been declining in recent years. Again, this affects our socialization skills and recognition of what is right and what is wrong. The media blurs the lines as well as they no longer practice restraint in telling a story or accurately reporting the news. From this, an ideological chasm has emerged which continues to widen.
My mother also made the observation that people seem to be making more mistakes these days. This is based on her shopping experiences either over the telephone or on the Internet. She said it has become quite common for vendors to ship the wrong product, or cause a delay due to improper shipping instructions, or perhaps bank cards are improperly credited or debited. “I’m sorry” is the common excuse, but nothing is done to truly correct the problem which is often repeated. Under this scenario, the problem is apathy, whereby the company is indifferent to the problems of the customer. Even if you threaten to terminate business with a company, the general attitude is “Okay,” meaning they do not really care. Instead of fighting for your business, they just move on to someone else, and the mistakes continue unabated.
Is the anger issue related to mistakes? I cannot help but think it is for the same reasons mentioned earlier. People have become jaded in terms of socializing with others. The sad thing is, it is so unnecessary. If people would only become a little more sensitive to others around them, maybe we would start to wear a smile again.
I don’t know. Maybe there is something in the water after all causing all this. I hope it’s not the fluoride.
Come on America, take a breath and loosen up!
P.S. – Don’t forget my new book, “Tim’s Senior Moments” now available in Printed and eBook form.
Keep the Faith!
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Tim Bryce is a writer and the Managing Director of M&JB Investment Company (M&JB) of Palm Harbor, Florida and has over 40 years of experience in the management consulting field. He can be reached at timb1557@gmail.com
For Tim’s columns, see: timbryce.com
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Copyright © 2019 by Tim Bryce. All rights reserved.
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Lawrence Marlin said
As usual this is an entertaining and “spot on” essay filled with interesting insights and a good bit of humor. I would also like to mention to other readers that Tim Bryce has a book out. You can get it on Amazon in Kindle or hard copy. He has many of his essays included. I find it a very fun book to read and full of good advice. I especially like that Tim will say something like “old friends are fun to talk to because they tend to understand your essence”. This confused me a bit, but as in so many of Tim’s essays, he says “let me give you an example”, and it explains all. Tim’s book is “Tim’s Senior Moments” and is well worth the price. I’m on page 237 and have found so many stories that are, as with this one, “spot on”, fun, and funny.
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Tim Bryce said
An H.N. of Tampa, Florida wrote…
“Excellent article Tim!! You have great insight. “
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Tim Bryce said
An M.W. of Virginia wrote…
“Good article Tim.
I live in a more rural area and I would say that people around here are about as nice as can be. It’s a big change after coming from the Northeast. People around here also tend to be more open and way less cynical. Of course there are always people who are outliers, however, I’ve noticed that the more crowded it is, the grumpier people get, whether it’s from dealing with more traffic or crowds or waiting in lines. In fact when we drive up there, the drivers start getting super aggressive right around New York and they stay that way throughout Ct and Mass. We hardly ever have to wait in lines around here whereas in CT, lines were a way of life- the DVM, the pharmacy, Walmart, you name it. (Course, all the taxes and the high cost of everything might make you grumpy too.)
I would also say that people are generally more religious around here and religious people tend to be nicer (as you remarked on in your article).”
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