Does a Magnet Work?

Dennis Lane wrote a column about this subject in October 2007 for the Business Monthly, in relationship to going to Lowe's for light bulbs.
[A]s I was searching for light bulbs or a salesperson, I became agitated. I mean, here I was in a new Lowe's store whose arrival in our fair county I had eagerly awaited, and that same frustration I had grown accustomed to at Home Depot was bubbling up inside me. So I took a deep breath.
On my way into the store I had passed a car with one of those "Choose Civility in Howard County" stickers on it. I decided that instead of getting angry perhaps I could simply choose civility.
Somehow, I don't believe Lane - particularly because he talks about the inherent cynicism he has about choosing civility.
I'll bet that more than a few of the folks who have these on their cars don't even know about the 25 rules of considerate conduct. Some people will put any old sticker on their car, provided it's free. In fact, just last week I got cut off in traffic by a car sporting a "Choose Civility" sticker. Did that person forget rule No. 15 ("Respect other people's space")?
And why Choose Civility in Howard County?
Does that mean I can choose to go back to being my old uncivil self when I cross the county line?
Now don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of the Howard County Library. It's among the top ranked public libraries in the country. I can't think of a better local organization to promote civility.
I hope it works, though I admit I'm skeptical. The reality is that being civil is not always easy, especially when confronted with frustration and things that don't make sense.
My question is this: when someone from HoCo goes to MoCo with this bumper sticker, do the MoCo drivers laugh at HoCo?

2 comments:

wordbones said...

Thanks for the shout out on my column. My tongue was planted firmly in my cheek when I wrote that.

-wb

Waggle Room Ryan said...

I figured as much, but it was some good ammo :)