Our Locations

Seattle, WA

Telephone Number

206.792.5831

Email Address

wanda@wcommgroup.com

  • Home
  • About Us
  • Expertise
  • Clients
  • Media
  • Publications
  • It’s Wanda Time Blog
  • Contact Us
  • Home
  • About Us
  • Expertise
  • Clients
  • Media
  • Publications
  • It’s Wanda Time Blog
  • Contact Us

Civility!

  • On July 24, 2018

On July 22, 2018, CBS Sunday Morning began its nine-minute segment on civility by asking the question:  Just how rude has life become?

The segment reporter stated that incivility has gone viral whether coming from the president of the United States or someone in a restaurant. After reading about so many disgusting incidents where people have been insulted and demeaned, I wholeheartedly agree with her assessment. However, I wasn’t prepared for the “vulgar incivility” I experienced when I tried to exit my condo garage the same day CBS aired this segment.

My condo requires that residents wait for the garage door to close completely when exiting in cars or on foot. If we don’t follow this rule, residents and/or their guests are fined $100 fine. I’ve been fined once and that was enough!  While I patiently waited for the door to close, I noticed that there was an SUV in my rear-view mirror and another car coming toward me. I was sandwiched in the middle. The car coming forward was forced to stop. I heard a car horn blow, which startled me. I didn’t know if the annoying noise was coming from the back or the front. And before I could retract my hand, I hit my horn, too.

Finally, the garage door rested on the concrete and I pulled out to the right. I could clearly see the man in the white Mercedes sedan whose momentum was interrupted by my desire to follow the rules. When our cars were side-by-side, he motioned for me to roll down my window. I clearly have been living in the Seattle “bubble” too long, because I naively thought he wanted to have a polite conversation. Instead, he raised his voice and called me a c _ _ t and drove off.

For a minute, I was stunned, but recovered in time to watch him pull into the garage of the apartment building that shares our alley. His car and extremely suntanned face are imprinted in my mind. And if my memory fails, our condo building cameras captured the interaction.

I reported the verbal assault to each building’s concierge teams. Unfortunately, this was an unpleasant reminder that “crass incivility” can unexpectedly slap me in the face any time and any place….as it did for a friend, who was recently called the N-word while driving and accidently cut off a cyclist in Seattle’s Arboretum area; and for my handsome “adopted” godson with a caramel complexion, who is frequently asked to show his identification in order to enter his luxury apartment building even though he was the fifth person to sign a lease; and for married friends, who were walking in the garage of Seattle’s newest luxury condo building and a resident repeatedly asked them “Do you belong here?” Surely, they must have looked like suspicious actors instead of who they really are — a loving couple, who happen to be African-American.

YES, we belong here! And I hope that this “incivility crisis” does not fester and cause unspeakable harm. Even though, I experienced something that was awful, I refuse to lose my faith in our ability to do better and be better human beings.

We live in a beautiful world. Let’s enjoy it together!

 

11 Comments

Vera
  • Jul 24 2018
  • Reply
What an article. It is unfortunate that the clock is going in reverse and not forward. People who would have never acted this way have been empowered from the White House and the shenanigans that is going on there. We just have to continue with the struggle like we did when we were in high school. Wanda continue to write your blogs they are so enlightening and thought provoking.
Peggie
  • Jul 24 2018
  • Reply
It is a sad time right now. Glad you restrained yourself, because it's too dangerous to argue with people right now.
Frank M. Levy
  • Jul 24 2018
  • Reply
That’s not the way to treat anybody, let alone a nice, giving, sharing , person like you Wanda. By the way happy birthday next week
Eileen Lehnerrt
  • Jul 24 2018
  • Reply
So sorry you had such a jarring experience! It is so sad that people are taking a cue from 45, believing hurtful and rude words are OK.
Janice F.
  • Jul 24 2018
  • Reply
This is our new reality and it is sad. It seems that all of the hatred and thinly veiled resentment of people of color that have opted to claim their piece of the American Dream is manifesting throughout this nation.It is easy to get caught up in the madness. Stand back and breathe. Don't Go Low.
Lynda Matthias
  • Jul 24 2018
  • Reply
I am so sorry Wanda. Every talks about our mentally ill homeless people being a problem, but it is the entitled who are the ones who need to learn how to live in a civil society.
Jen Meeker
  • Jul 25 2018
  • Reply
Horrifying in so many ways. Thank you for sharing these important stories.
Naida
  • Jul 25 2018
  • Reply
Wanda, you are so right and as usual you handled yourself with impeccable dignity and courage. This itime in our nation is marked by egregious inequities and downright ignorance from those who think that they stand above others. I have noticed and been subject to racism of late like I have not seen since I was a child growing up in the South. People no longer feel the need to hide their hatred. And unfortunately those that participate in this demeaning behavior have no shame and have found a foothold with which to take root. Those of us who know the sting of rudeness, insensitivity and racial indudignity should always call out the offense despite fear of repercussion. Because to let it slide is to let it sink in and become interwoven into our culture.
Karen Gielen
  • Jul 25 2018
  • Reply
Thanks for going high when others go low!!
Victoria Bracco
  • Jul 26 2018
  • Reply
Sadly I think things have gotten worse instead of better in the last 10 years...…
Marie
  • Aug 1 2018
  • Reply
Thanks for sharing. So often we ignorantly believe being rude is reserved to those who aren’t quite as blessed...sadly, some of the most ‘un civil’ people are those at the higher end of the socio economic status. Sad.

Leave Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recent Posts
  • New (part 1)!
  • Thanks (again)!
  • Fight On!
  • Vote…Vote…Vote!
  • Vote (again please)!
  • State of Our Union
  • Guilty!
  • Civility!
  • Family!
  • Outrage (part 2)!
Archives
Join Our Mailing List


By submitting this form, you are granting: W Communications, 2033 2nd Ave. , Seattle, WA, 98121, permission to email you. You may unsubscribe via the link found at the bottom of every email. (See our Email Privacy Policy (http://constantcontact.com/legal/privacy-statement) for details.) Emails are serviced by Constant Contact.
Disclaimer: This is a personal blog that is intended to provide a semi-permanent snapshot of what's on my mind at any given time. The opinions expressed are my own and not those of my family, friends or clients. Since my thoughts and opinions change periodically, those shared within previous posts may not be the same, or even similar, to those I may have today.

Family!

Guilty!

Scroll
Join Our Mailing List


By submitting this form, you are granting: W Communications, 2033 2nd Ave. , Seattle, WA, 98121, permission to email you. You may unsubscribe via the link found at the bottom of every email. (See our Email Privacy Policy (http://constantcontact.com/legal/privacy-statement) for details.) Emails are serviced by Constant Contact.
Follow us on twitter
Tweets by WandaJHerndon
Follow us on Facebook
@2017 Wcommgroup.com