something i have noticed lately is the lack of respect that people have. my ceramics teacher brought this up in class the other day, and i haven't been able to get it out of my head ever since. he was talking about how one of his students in another class had knocked a mug off a shelf in another class, and walked away from it afterwards. it happened to be a mug my teacher had made and had for over 30 years. i liked what he had said about the issue. "the mug being broken didn't upset me. accidents happen, and that is okay. even him not helping me clean it up didn't upset me. the thing that upset me the most is that he didn't say he was sorry. that showed me he didn't have any respect." i just can't get over the lack of respect. saying things as simple as "please", "thank you", and "i'm sorry" isn't that hard to do and it makes the biggest difference in a situation. now, there are going to be people that are going to say that the problem is the youth and that we are beyond disrespectful. 1 - not all teenagers are bad teenagers. i have seen some teenagers do some amazing things. for example, there was a teacher coming into the school the other day, with their hands full of stuff. two of my classmates ran out to help her. one held the door while another helped her carry in her things. there are good youth in the world, i promise. and 2 - i have met some adults that have zero respect as well. i was at a church party last night, and my friend and i were helping clean up one of the games. we had to rinse out a bucket that got dirty during the game. the kitchen sinks were all being occupied, and the sinks in the bathroom were too small for the bucket to fit inside. there is a sink in the mother's room that was pretty big, so my friend and i went in there. we walked in talking, but not loudly or obnoxiously. we turned the corner and there was a mother with her young child. (before i go into the story, i want to say that this is in no way, shape, or form to diss on parents. parents have a very difficult job and i completely understand that it gets very tiring and frusturating at times. i have had a ton of experience with children so i know first hand. parents are amazing people with a very important job!) i said "hi" to the mother, and put the pot in the sink. she immedietly said back "hi, can you get out". i pulled the pot out and my friend and i left the room. i was upset, but not because she asked us to leave. i get it, she had a sleeping baby, and the water along with the clinking of the sink and pan can wake the baby up. i was upset because she was so rude about it. she could have asked us to leave in a nicer tone and i would have not thought twice about it. after we had left, a mother walked in with her toddler to change her diaper. when she walked in, the mother had told her the same thing she had told us, along with "there are changing tables in the bathroom". the mother of the toddler was so upset she left the party. she was upset for the same reason i was, lack of respect. respect is something that isn't very hard to show, and something that everyone should have and use often. next time you are in a situation where you can show respect, even if it's as simple as a "thank you", "please", "sorry", or even just changing the tone in your voice, make sure you use it. it is so simple but yet so very important 💜.
-savannah