That thing to the left of your steering wheel is a turn signal

To The Daily Sun,

I miss Andy Rooney. For many years until his death in late 2011, he held forth each week in a short segment at the end of each Sunday night’s broadcast of the “60 Minutes” program. It was, in my view, one of the few good reasons to spend any time watching anything on CBS for at least the past several decades. Andy’s commentary each week conveyed his views on many aspects of contemporary American life. Although he was often characterized as a curmudgeon, his observations were spot on.

I was thinking of Andy in the past week or so and tried to imagine what he might say about some of the blatant evidence of the decline of courtesy and civility in American daily life. So, with a salute to Andy Rooney, the following are some things he might have said:

When you check out of a grocery or other retail merchant and are lucky enough to have a checkout lane manned by a person, do you remember when at the end of the transaction you were handed your receipt and given a smile and a “Thank You!”? When I was growing up, I was taught always to say “please” and “thank you.” Often. Well, nowadays, I have noticed that the checkout people apparently were never taught to say “thank you” to their customers whose patronage is paying their salaries. So, I have noticed that the most you can expect, especially at any of the three groceries in Gilford, is to be handed your receipt and to be told “There you go.” Was there some course in school that taught that the phrase “There you go” is the same as “Thank you?”

And my experience with this type of lack of courtesy is not confined to young people serving as cashiers. Even mature checkout people who should certainly know better have regressed to the same behavior.

But probably the best place to see the severe decline in courtesy and civility is in driving on the road.

There is a lever of the left hand side of the steering column in all motor vehicles. Some people seem to think that it is an option or is simply there to be used to hang your rabbit’s foot on it or that it might cost you extra to use it. But, in reality, it is called the turn signal. These days, many drivers either have never learned the proper use of the turn signal or simply ignore what they supposedly learned. So, how many times have you driven behind someone who either fails to activate their turn signal at all, when it is finally becomes clear that they are intending to turn, or they activate it almost at the same time they start their turn — in other words — why give anyone behind them fair warning of what they intend to do?

And forget about anyone using their turn signals to indicate that they intend to change lanes while driving on a multilane highway. That would be too easy and might actually enhance driving safety.

And when was the last time you saw or heard of anyone receiving a traffic ticket for failure to use their turn signals properly?

Another sure sign of the decline of our American civilization is the abject failure of many drivers to utilize their headlight in fog or rain. It can be very foggy, or the rain can be coming down in sheets sufficient for the driver to activate their windshield wipers. But no headlights that might make it easier to be seen by other drivers when visibility is reduced by the weather?

Modern vehicles these days usually have warning signals that beep when you turn off your vehicle if you have left the lights on, so that you do not run down your battery. So that is no excuse for not using your headlights. Maybe they think that by turning on their headlights they will be using more gas- probably, but over a year in New Hampshire weather the extra gas involved might possibly fill a thimble.

Finally, one of the few areas of restrictive legislation our state has with respect to distracted driving is the prohibition on the use of handheld cell phones by drivers. But how many times have you been behind someone who does not seem to be able to keep their vehicle within the lines of the lane, and if you are finally able to get around them you almost certainly find that they are chatting or texting on their phone. So why does this happen so often without these boorish types getting a ticket?

I am sure Andy would find many more examples of our decline in courtesy and civility but that is about all I could come up with today.

Norman J. Silber

Gilford