Whatever Happened to Common Courtesy?

More and more lately, I have noticed quite a lack of common courtesy, whether it is in driving, on cellphones, or face to face in public places. 

As I have been driving around lately, I have noticed people cutting more people off, not stopping and waiting in a parking lot when they see a car halfway out of a parking space, and not taking turns at stop signs.  This is becoming an epidemic.  Today, I almost backed into someone when I was pulling out of a parking space.  They could see me, but I couldn't see them until I was almost halfway out.  If I hadn't slammed on my brakes, I would have backed into the side of their car and guess whose fault that would have been.  Why is it that we don't stop anymore and wait to let someone pull out of a space, when they are already halfway out?  I've also, noticed when people are walking to their cars, they don't stop and wait for cars, who are already pulling out, to complete their maneuver,  Are we really in that much of a hurry?  Is there really anything that important that we can't stop out of common courtesy?  Where is the emergency that causes us to think our movement from "point a" to "point b" is more important that anyone else?  Do we really think that little of each other anymore?  
The other way I have noticed a lack of common courtesy, is face to face with people in public.  I have watched people disregard others by stopping in the middle of an aisle, so that they and their family are totally blocking the aisle just so they can carry on a conversation with each other.  The other day I was in a store and was trying to move to the next aisle, when I came upon a family just standing in the middle of the way.  I tried to excuse myself, so they would step aside and let me by, but to no avail.  I ended up turning and walking back the way I had come and then over to the next aisle.  A minute later that same family turned the corner onto the aisle where I was walking and slowly made their way towards me.  I kept waiting for them to stop again, but to my relief, they continued down the aisle, not realizing their rudeness.

Another problem is when people are talking on a cellphone when they are in all kinds of public places.  My pet peeve is talking on a cellphone in a public bathroom...REALLY!!!  Don't those of you who do that, not know that anyone on the other end can hear everything going on around you?  Those cellphones do pick up and amplify anything down to the tiniest noise.  Would you invite a group of people into a bathroom to experience your private moments, at home?  Then why are you doing it in public restrooms where the rest of us don't want anyone listening in.  Then, there is movie theaters, concerts, doctor's offices...need I go on?  Once again, with the use of new technology, common courtesy has gone out the window.

Now don't get me wrong,  I am speaking to myself in some of these instances, because I too am guilty at times.

Today, I witnessed a brazen form of rudeness.  Now we have all gone to restaurants, where we sit at tables that are near others or shared with others, but not all restaurants are set up for this.  As my son and I were sitting in an unnamed restaurant, I was enjoying one of my favorite pastimes...watching other people.  I observed a group of four businessmen dressed in casual attire walk over to a table for 4 and sit down.  They began to eat.  Within a couple of minutes they realized something was wrong at their table. (I'm not sure what the problem was.)  So they opted to get up and move to two tables pushed together to form a table for 4, behind where my son was sitting.  One man had sat down, another had set his food down and returned to help the other men move their food.  He turned around, with the other two men and moved towards the new table.  At this time a woman, talking on her cellphone walked over and sat down at the table where the one man was already sitting.  Now, you need to know that there were probably at least 4 or 5 other tables that were vacant.  The man whose food was already at the table walked over, looked at the man sitting at the table, with a look of he couldn't believe this woman was doing this.  She didn't seem to realize anything was wrong, so the men got up and moved, with their food, back to the original table.  In watching this whole situation unfold, I was shocked that someone would be that brazen and rude, but most of all amazed that she was so caught up in her conversation, on her cellphone, that she didn't notice that she had been rude or brazen.

We have introduced so many different nationalities, beliefs and background experiences into our country, along with their ways of doing things and their ideologies, modern technology, the need to do everything faster and faster, thus, over the years we have all lost a since of courtesy and politeness no matter how we were all brought up.

We, the people of this eclectic society need to come to an agreement to be courteous and polite to each other on the same level; to slow down; and make people more important than ourselves and our ever changing technology.

I'm getting off my soapbox now.  :D

God's Handiwork

God's handiwork,
So meticulous and grand;
Complex, yet simple,
He needs no helping hand.                                               

The land, like a glorious quilt,
Each patch radiates in a different hue;
He carefully weaves His details,
Right down to the shimmering dew.

Waters crest ashore, so gently,
Then angrily, as a lion chasing down its prey;
His touch can calm them down again,
As though they had nothing to say.

Mountains, so vast and expansive,
A mist of shadows and clouds;
Stand rugged, strong and majestic,
Yet, so softened by colors that shroud.

Yes, God in all His knowledge,
Has created beauty beyond compare;
That we, as his children created,
Were given to enjoy and to share.

Here's to Sifting Through Twenty Years

Twenty years of teaching supplies, books, and worksheets is a lot of stuff to sift through, but last Thursday, I started the dreaded task of going through all that I have collected over the years as a teacher of regular education and special education. 

Today was strenuous, as I continued to wander through my cabinets with lots and lots of memories.  I went through children's books, files upon files and even more files of worksheets and somewhat important papers, craft items to make fun lessons or holiday oriented stuff, teaching books, games, and toys used for rewards.  There was a lot of stuff!  After packing up a good part of it, my boys helped me load up my SUV and we brought the first load home to store.  Where??? 

I will trudge back up to the school again tomorrow and complete this grueling, bittersweet task.  Bittersweet, because I have so many wonderful memories of children that I have taught over the years.  Memories of students who touched my life, but most importantly, students in whose lives I was able to make a difference. Those are the students that will always standout in my memory.  The ones, who I will wonder what they became when they grew up and what kind of a difference are they making.

So, as I sift through the last of my stuff tomorrow I will continue to allow the precious memories to wash over me and bring back fond memories of days gone by.  Then, I will load up the last of my stuff and bring it home.

Now where to put it....hmmmm!  Wait!  I have an idea...my oldest son goes back to college in two weeks.  Yes!  Storage is in an upstairs back bedroom of my house.  Now the question is...can I get 25-30 banker's boxes in my son's closet???   :D

Behind the Artist Easel

Why name my blog "Behind the Artist Easel"?

Over the many years of my life I have found myself sitting behind my easel; where I have let my mind wander as I draw, create or paint what I see, and perceive from real life, photographs, or what I see in my mind's eye.  It is a quiet hiding place, where I have spent many hours of letting my mind flow with the creative talents that God so richly blessed me with.  It has been a place of contemplation and a place where the outside world can't enter. God has allowed me the privilege, like so many other artist, of having the ability to communicate the beauty around me, what I am feeling, and the extremes in life that surround us, by using many different mediums.  It is a privilege that I have often taken for granted, but now in my middle years, I realize are so precious.

As in Isaiah 64: 8 "But now, O Lord, You are our Father; we are the clay and You our potter, and all we are the work of Your hand."

Over the time-span of my life, God has molded me and then mashed me back down to the lump of raw clay and slip that is the beginning of any beautifully crafted piece of pottery, just to rebuild and shape me again.  Even though, I have at times, come close to looking like the piece that He had in mind, I have had flaws, which caused God to mash me down and start over.  For without removing the flaws, the piece will not be whole and might crack, explode or not hold up to the fire of life's kiln.  At this point and time, God has spent many months mashing me down, once more, to get rid of the flaws, so that I might be remolded and become more flawless.  Don't get me wrong, this won't be the last time God has had to remold me, but each time He does, I get closer and closer to becoming the final perfect product that He is creating me to be.

If you have been around an artist, you know that they don't usually want anyone to see their unfinished work. I too don't want anyone to see my work until it is completed.  Thus, I sit by myself  "Behind the Artist Easel" with the dream of bestowing on the world, however big or small, the masterpiece that God has directed my hands to create.  As I draw, paint, sculpt, or just roll different ideas over in my mind, I find that I also, need to put my thoughts on paper in words and not just in stark pencil lines,charcoal shadings, paint filled brushstrokes, quick exacting swipes of the palette knife or sculpting clay.  Thus, I have begun my blog to share, with family and friends, the thoughts that I ponder and what God is doing in my life as I use my talents to reach others for Him.

Don't be surprised when you see me peek out from "Behind the Artist Easel" and share my thoughts or maybe a finished drawing, painting, or sculpture.

God bless you all,

Your Constantly Remolded Clay