Choose Civility
Howard County is home to a Choose Civility campaign. For the last two years, green car magnets have been seen all over my home county exhorting folks to "Choose Civility". The idea is to make Howard County a model of social decorum by enhancing respect, consideration, empathy, and tolerance. The effort is an implementation of a book by P. M. Forni of Johns Hopkins University.
The effort is harmless enough though I think asking people to just be civil to each other sets the bar mighty low. I'm civil to the inn clerk who tells me my room will be 6 hours late being cleaned. I'm civil to my neighbor who lets his dog crap in my yard. I'm civil to the guy from the Republican National Committee who keeps calling me thinking my father lives here. The Boy Scout Law asks that we be courteous and kind - several notches up from civility. My mother set the bar even higher. Being civil to another human being is a bare minimum in social interactions if you ask me. Any behavior less than civil probably warrants some serious self-examination and attitude adjustment. Imagine an Internet where civility was the norm.
Of course, if civility were the norm, we wouldn't have Fox News Channel.
If you're interested in Forni's 25(!) rules for considerate conduct, they appear after the jump.
K-
The effort is harmless enough though I think asking people to just be civil to each other sets the bar mighty low. I'm civil to the inn clerk who tells me my room will be 6 hours late being cleaned. I'm civil to my neighbor who lets his dog crap in my yard. I'm civil to the guy from the Republican National Committee who keeps calling me thinking my father lives here. The Boy Scout Law asks that we be courteous and kind - several notches up from civility. My mother set the bar even higher. Being civil to another human being is a bare minimum in social interactions if you ask me. Any behavior less than civil probably warrants some serious self-examination and attitude adjustment. Imagine an Internet where civility was the norm.
Of course, if civility were the norm, we wouldn't have Fox News Channel.
If you're interested in Forni's 25(!) rules for considerate conduct, they appear after the jump.
K-
1 . Pay attention
2. Acknowledge others
3. Think the best
4. Listen
5. Be inclusive
6. Speak kindly
7. Don't speak ill
8. Accept and give praise
9. Respect even a subtle "no"
10. Respect others' opinions
11. Mind your body
12. Be agreeable
13. Keep it down (and rediscover silence)
14. Respect other people's time
15. Respect other people's space
16. Apologize earnestly
17. Assert yourself
18. Avoid personal questions
19. Care for your guests
20. Be a considerate guest
21. Think twice before asking for favors
22. Refrain from idle complaints
23. Accept and give constructive advice
24. Respect the environment and be gentle to animals
25. Don't shift responsibility and blame
Extremely interesting list of rules. But way too many for me to remember or internalize. On my better days, I think The Golden Rule is the only one we need. The rest of the time? Oh, never mind. ...
I'm civil. I couldn't help but notice how they slipped "be agreeable" right there in the middle. Surely its possible to be disagreeable and still be civil.
I see Marie signed in but when I try, I get the following message:
"Connection error: Too many connections at ___ "
Anyway, those rules seem both unnecessary and inadequate.
I can't help with the connection error. I logged out and back in.
K-
Seems to be working at home so maybe it was my work connection.
What does the existence of Fox News tell us about civility? Perhaps you should check out rules number 7, 10, and 22 next time you get the inclination to be a wiseacre.
The bombast and bellicosity I routinely see on Fox News Channel - particularly during the evening pundit shows - tells us that civility is not a quality highly esteemed by that particular organization. My statement, albeit somewhat sacastic, expresses a personal view about the manner Fox presents its opinions, not the opinions themselves. I speak ill of no one. Because the Fox organization utilizes public airwaves, I am free to scrutinize and critique its performance as I wish without compromising my civility.
Nor was it an idle complaint. An example of an idle complaint that speaks ill would be: "Gee, I hate it when people post anonymously on my blog. It's so chickenshit."
Of course, being civil, I would never actually say that.
Thanks for calling me a wiseacre though. My great grandmother used to call me that.
K-
I thoroughly enjoyed the wiseacre remark. I enjoyed your response even more.