The loss of civility

I was recently in a "big box", store looking for a item I needed. After looking for a couple of minutes for the item I walked up to a employee of the store who was placing items on a shelf. This employee never looked up when I said "can you tell me where this item is?" Continuing to stack the items he said "Aisle 4". I said thank you and he said nothing. I walked around the rest of the time being mad at the lack of "niceness" on his part. Is it just me , or have you noticed a steep decline in civility throughout our culture. Saying "good morning" to a coworker, holding the door open for someone, not interrupting someone who is speaking. We spend more time texting than we do face to face with people we care about. Even the ingenuine response of "thank you" and "did you find everything you were looking for" from employees throughout businesses and establishments is disaapointing.

The other day I was tempted when asked did I find everything I was looking for by a young checkout girl to say "no I couldn't find the "man spanks I was looking for." I believe we are not born uncivil but learn to become uncivil in a culture that has become increasingly about "me." Something is wrong when we have to tell new employees who work for us to make eye contact and say thank you and have a nice day with deep honesty. Shouldn't these attributes be givens? In this increasingly fast changing world I would suggest that we slow down just for a few minutes each day to practice "being nice." We can all learn to appreciate our fellow human beings better and treat each other with dignity and genuine niceness. So, wake up businesses and companies to the fact that when people feel appreciated and cared for they will continue to shop and do business with you. As the old saying goes,"People will forget what you say, forget what you do, but they will never forget how you make them feel."