Monday, July 2, 2012

Civility Week 27, July 2, 2012

Whew! It’s hot in this part of the nation, which at this time could be anywhere in the nation on any given day of July! But what an excellent time to practice civility! Our tempers seem to flare when we are hot and uncomfortable. But here in Southeast Missouri, when we get humidity PLUS heat,  it really gets unbearable.

We need a good dose of rain to not only cool off the temps but to cool us off too. That cleansing bit of rain has a wondrous way of cooling our tempers too! Have you every noticed during a sudden downpour after a long hot day, people don’t mind the rain so much and even laugh and joke about getting wet? I call it the “Rain Civility.”

Rain Civility makes friends out of the people you meet while standing under the awning at the grocery waiting for the rain to slow down so you can get your groceries to the car without getting soggy. Rain Civility is what happens when you and a stranger are standing on the curb waiting to cross the street and a bus goes by drenching both of you with its spray and you turn and laugh with each other.

My wish is that everyone in the world could experience Rain Civility and somehow keep it all the time!

I guess that is a little unrealistic, but then why do the woman at Miss America Pageants say they want world peace? It’s the same wish!

Why does rain do that to us? And it’s not those long all day rain showers, either. Rain Civility only happens after short thunderstorm rains or even after a snow storm when people are forced to look at the world in a totally different way. All of the sudden we are all in the same boat: how do we shovel out of all that snow? How do we get to our car without getting soaked? Our common experience pulls us together and makes us instant friends even for a few minutes.

My wish this week is that you experience a little Rain Civility in your part of the country.  Peace!

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