Editor:
Re: Gone are the days of respect, Jan. 3, letters
Welcome to 2020.
You have to remember that common sense and common courtesy left in the 1980s.
All that is left, or was left, is respect and that is quickly disappearing, too. Many people raised in the 1970s or 80s, didn’t have parents that were concerned about properly raising children. (It seems to be a thing in the Greater Vancouver area).
Then these children end up bringing up their children with less respect for other people and other things. It is all about themselves. They have no respect for the law, others, street lines or painted signs – not to mention traffic lights.
It is easy to pick up bad habits, keep them growing and adding more, but very hard to remove those bad habits and live a safe way of life.
I, too, have mentioned to people about their driving or parking and have received the similar responses as letter writer Marcia Friesen.
It is hard to keep one’s mouth shut with the way people are now, but you have to wonder what could happen to you if you bring to their attention that what they are doing is stupid, dangerous or unlawful.
A steamy cup of coffee is hot, a 15-ton vehicle takes longer to stop than your two-ton vehicle, when snow and ice are on the road, it is slippery, an 18-wheeler needs more lanes to turn than your pickup truck, cutting in front of a large vehicle and stopping can cause an accident.
Instead, try waving a thank you to someone who just let you merge, saying excuse me when you walk in front of someone, waiting your turn in line and holding the door open for the person behind you.
Marienus de Jong, Surrey
