Before you begin the process of taking in the words your eyes will read, I want you to focus your mind letting the words take you on a journey…..for some, maybe even a memory of a regular experience.

I do get that in “the city life” time is very crucial and most of your life revolves around that, BUT that’s really no excuse why you can’t slow down every so often.

There’s a combination of words that my ears have sadly gotten used to NOT hearing…….

EXCUSE ME!

Yes, that’s not something I hear quite often, and just in case you want to play smart or cute, you can add the words “PARDON and SORRY” to that list.

Those words are words that I don’t hear quite often, as a matter of fact, those are words that I almost NEVER hear. All I hear is….actually, I don’t hear anything. But despite the absence of words, I do feel that someone wants to pass. I feel it with bumps & pushes, and feel it when someone squeezes or forces themselves to pass by me or between me and someone else.

Now, I know there may be some of you thinking, “oh you must be standing in the way”. So let me just clarify the reality for you and tell you this, “as long as you’re standing, you’re always in the way, even when you’re not”.

BIG CITY LIFE is what they call it.

I find myself living in it for quite some time now, but for some reason I can’t adapt, I maybe even REFUSE to adapt to that extent where I lose the manners my mother spent years of TIME instilling it in me.

You know what, let’s use an example: Just think of a train pulling up to the platform and doors open up, you’d think logical and most efficient, not forgetting mannered way to go about the transfer is for those in the train to be allowed to step out first right? In the real world that is the case (or maybe in the fantasy world), but in this city life, clearly everyone seems to act like chickens without heads. There seems to be a lack of logic in this city life I’m sensing, maybe the lack of time to process logic is too short……? When the train pulls up and doors open, all a person is trying to do it get out of the train, so why not just wait on the side so someone can exit? YES, just as they want to get off you want to get on, but where will you go if there is no space on the train? But noooooooo, it seems as though that’s asking for too much. As the train pulls up it’s as though everyone goes into some form of predator-mode. The predators are hungry and the train is finally bringing food and water after weeks of starvation. NO! That’s not the case, so why can’t people take a few seconds of their time and act civilized? Trains, metros, trams, busses, all the same. You know what’s even more scary, the uncivilized rush and lack of manners isn’t only limited to public transport? Sorry if I made it seem as though that is the only time people express their lack of manners. I mean, where do I even CONTINUE to burn this “city life”?

Take a walk with me off of the public transport. Let’s take a tour in the city with your imagination.  Walking streets is another mess, it’s another uncivilized environment. People seem to have absolutely no consideration whatsoever, it’s a free-for-all. Sometimes it feels as though I’m in a car tumbling down a cliff, I’m being maneuvered beyond my will, left, right, forward, all because people don’t want to say the words “EXCUSE ME”.

But you know, apart from that all, the thing that bothers me most of the BIG CITY LIFE is people’s ability to mind their own business when they shouldn’t! Hahaha, I’m sure you’re thinking if minding your own business isn’t supposed to be a good thing. Well, no, not in cases when your help is needed. Yes assholes, quite often your help can be quite helpful. How about times when you’re comfortably in a seat and an elderly person comes in and the public transport is full, just maybe it may be helpful to offer the seat! What about when a mother is struggling with her baby and stroller to get it in or out of public transport, maybe it would be helpful to help! What about when someone falls, whether  because the floor is iced over, falling off of a bicycle or just loses their stability. In many cases, just maybe it would be helpful to help!

Just maybe if people weren’t always in such a rush to go nowhere they would have a spare minute just to be helpful, just to be mannered!