Recently, I was at a solemn public function that involved the playing of our national anthem, a formal ‘moment of silence’ and some meditative/prayerful time. The venue was packed shoulder to shoulder and many folks knew most of those in attendance, but there were obviously some from out of town. The lack of community civility during the ceremony was disrespectful and in my opinion rude. While the displays were not malicious in nature they certainly showed a lack of situational awareness and communal civic minded manners.
Where ever has our community civility gone to? At the function I mentioned above, many adults ignored the playing of the national anthem and kept right on saying hello to those they had not seen in a while and continued to put cream and sugar into their tea and coffee. Few were singing our national song and most were not turned to face the prominently displayed Canadian flag. Sheesh – would it hurt you to at least turn and face one of our most visible national symbols and perhaps at least murmur if not outright sing the words to the song?
During the formal moment of silence during the ceremony, some toddlers and recent newborns were squirming and gurgling which is wholeheartedly OK and to be expected. However, I cannot for the life of me understand why buddy just a couple of tables away had to ask the guy across from him if he still wanted to buy the boat and motor or just the boat from him! I struggled successfully to keep from going over and flicking the bottom of his ear for the insolence he was showing to the individual for whom the moment of silence was being held.
Then I could not believe it as a couple of folks, with some commotion mind you, passed cigarettes to another ‘guest’ who obviously couldn’t wait until after a generic prayer was finished to be ready to “smoke ‘em if ya got ‘em”.
These public displays of nonchalance, disrespect and ignorance compel me to call for classes to be held in community civics. There are now at least three generations that have come up in the world after the boomers and they have not been instructed it seems on how to behave in public during the singing of our national anthem and during a moment of silence (the key word here being silence) and how to pay your respects to the deceased. I don’t know where or who would teach these classes in civics, but perhaps we could start with teaching these skills to our children in school just before Remembrance Day for example? What about our workplaces and public organizations? Are supervisors and leaders within the workplace ready to spend some time to ensure employees are provided with a primer on civic mindedness during the initial workplace orientation for such events as the National Day of Mourning for remembering those who have lost their lives or suffered injury or illness on the job, Remembrance Day, the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence against Women and other formal gatherings at work?
Perhaps, in addition to workplace training, grandparents could impart these skills to their grandchildren? It is through the children of the next generation that perhaps we can reach the adults who need these ‘skills’ to ensure a modicum of community civics are achieved and maintained.
Where ever has our community civility gone to? At the function I mentioned above, many adults ignored the playing of the national anthem and kept right on saying hello to those they had not seen in a while and continued to put cream and sugar into their tea and coffee. Few were singing our national song and most were not turned to face the prominently displayed Canadian flag. Sheesh – would it hurt you to at least turn and face one of our most visible national symbols and perhaps at least murmur if not outright sing the words to the song?
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| Photo by Doug Tennant - Cedar Lake in Algonquin Park, September 2019 |
Then I could not believe it as a couple of folks, with some commotion mind you, passed cigarettes to another ‘guest’ who obviously couldn’t wait until after a generic prayer was finished to be ready to “smoke ‘em if ya got ‘em”.
These public displays of nonchalance, disrespect and ignorance compel me to call for classes to be held in community civics. There are now at least three generations that have come up in the world after the boomers and they have not been instructed it seems on how to behave in public during the singing of our national anthem and during a moment of silence (the key word here being silence) and how to pay your respects to the deceased. I don’t know where or who would teach these classes in civics, but perhaps we could start with teaching these skills to our children in school just before Remembrance Day for example? What about our workplaces and public organizations? Are supervisors and leaders within the workplace ready to spend some time to ensure employees are provided with a primer on civic mindedness during the initial workplace orientation for such events as the National Day of Mourning for remembering those who have lost their lives or suffered injury or illness on the job, Remembrance Day, the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence against Women and other formal gatherings at work?
Perhaps, in addition to workplace training, grandparents could impart these skills to their grandchildren? It is through the children of the next generation that perhaps we can reach the adults who need these ‘skills’ to ensure a modicum of community civics are achieved and maintained.
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