I keep coming up with new ways to relieve stress. I’ve tried to change the way I look at the world. I even bought a pair of rose colored glasses in hopes that the cliché is true (it’s not by the way).

Jim and I joined a gym and I spent 50 minutes in the cardio theatre last night and felt like I could take on the world when I came out of there. Sweat soaked and full of piss and vinegar just daring someone to cross me.

Never extend a dare.

Lately I am shocked and amazed at the behavior of people I encounter. Whether it be in traffic, in line at the grocery store, or even at work; people are just downright rude. My usual approach is to let it roll off of me. Chances are I don’t really like the person anyway so who cares. However, it is getting very tiresome. Why must they ruin my Zen?

When did we as a society stop holding doors open for people? When did it become a race to the checkout line and why does the person with an overflowing cart think its okay to cut off the person with one or two items? And then pay with a check? That they didn’t fill out ahead of time? When did we stop apologizing when we are wrong?

This isn’t intended to be a cranky rant, just my observations. Whatever happened to manners? Are we all overly scheduled stress cases? Have we spent so much time on our computers and cellphones that we have forgotten how to interact with people face to face. R.I.P common courtesy.