The Silliest Thing About People

My daughter spilled a little bit of milk when she was finishing her cereal this morning. As soon as she was done (and without being asked - I'm so proud!) she got a napkin and cleaned up the spill. As she did it, she explained, "Mommy, since I made a mess, I'm cleaning it up."

I thanked her, and told her I was proud of her for being so responsible. Then she looked at me with a very serious expression and said (in a somewhat baffled tone) "Mommy - did you know that some people make messes and don't even clean them up?!"

"I know!" I said, matching her tone. "Can you believe it?"

"That's ridiculous!" she declared, shaking her head. I agreed. As we walked up the stairs, she shook her head again and said (this time somewhat mournfully) "That's just the silliest thing about people."

So there you have it. More wise words from my five-year-old.

If you make a mess, please clean it up. If you break something, please try to fix it. If you hurt someone, please try to make up for it. Take responsibility for your actions, and do the best you can to set things right if you make a mistake. Otherwise, you're just being silly.

It Never Hurts to Be Nice

My daughter and I stopped for breakfast while we were out running some early errands the other day. Her favorite part, as it usually is these days, was ordering her own food. She's been on this kick for a while, where she does not want me to order for her. She likes showing off what a big girl she is, and what nice manners she can use.

So she placed her order. "May I have some oatmeal please?" And to drink? "May I also have some milk please?" She was very proud of herself, and the woman behind the counter seemed very impressed. And of course I was proud of the wonderfully sweet girl that I'm helping raise.

As we sat enjoying our food, I couldn't help but overhear some of the other customers that came through. And I also couldn't help getting irritated. (I try not to let it bother me, but it still always does.) It seems like every time I'm in a fast food restaurant, or a convenience store, or any other place where people are being served from behind a counter, someone comes in and demands (usually rather rudely) "Yeah, gimme a ..." or "Let me have a ..." whatever it is that they want.

To their credit, the people behind the counter almost always handle it well, and usually at least act like they didn't even notice the unnecessary rudeness. But it always makes me bristle. I know - the attitude isn't directed at me. Maybe it's not my place to be concerned with it.

But it does concern me. I'm concerned by what it says about our society. I'm concerned that we as a culture think that it's okay to treat someone disrespectfully just because it's their job to help us. I'm concerned by the lack of value that we seem to place on other people.

Maybe you think I'm being over-dramatic. And maybe I am. But I can't help but think about the difference it makes to me when someone chooses to speak to me kindly, as opposed to being rude just because they can. (And I have a feeling I'm not alone here.)

So if someone is being paid to wait on you, and you're paying for the goods they are delivering... there's a pretty good chance that you're going to get what you ask for. It really isn't necessary to be rude or demanding. And it never hurts to be nice.

Credit Where Credit Is Due

Writers (and other artists, I can only assume) are constantly looking at the world as a source for inspiration. Sure, there is the occasional idea that just pops into my head with no discernible source, but for the most part every idea that I have is inspired by something. That's just the way the creative process works. You see or hear something interesting, it sparks an idea, your internal conversation leads to other ideas, and suddenly you're inspired to produce something brilliant.

Admittedly, I'm sure that sometimes I over-share, but (as you know if you read this blog) I tend to provide my source material as part of the story. "I saw this guy doing this thing and I started to wonder... blah, blah, blah." Or something like that. I always like to know what led up to something, so I share in case anyone else out there is like that too. (Plus, I sometimes feel a need to prove that not everything that comes out of my head is random nonsense. But that's a conversation for another time.)

The other reason for sharing that information is something that was drilled into my brain while completing my technical writing degree: Thou shall cite every source! Anyone who writes any kind of non-fiction knows (or should know) that you always credit your sources, whether you're quoting directly or just going off of an idea that someone else started. To do otherwise is to plagiarize.

I thought of this today because of Miss Riki's latest post. (See what I did there?) She shared a perfectly justified rant because she was recently plagiarized by another blogger. Direct, word-for-word stolen material. It was horrible, and quite the violation. And as a fellow blogger, I was disgusted.

Part of that disgust was because people in the blogging community do - quite often - get inspiration from each other. It is very common to see links to other posts that inspired the telling of another story. (Almost exactly what I'm doing here, you might say.) It's a way to give credit to the ones who sparked the ideas in us, and to share our favorite bloggers with our own readers and encourage you to visit them. (Ahem. See above.)

While I haven't been directly plagiarized (as far as I know), I can relate at least a little bit to Miss Riki's anger. In the not too distant past I was part of an online discussion thread. The very next day, I happened to see a blog post written by someone else that was also part of that discussion. Interestingly enough, the idea for that person's post had obviously come from some of my comments the day before.

Sure, it wasn't a big deal. And I didn't do anything about it (other than to make a sort of disgusted clucking noise, and think "that was kind of rude!") But yeah, it was irritating. Particularly because it would have been SO easy to say "I was having a discussion yesterday, and someone said blah, blah, blah, which reminded me that blah, blah, blah..." See? Easy. And frankly, just the polite thing to do.

Nobody likes to have things stolen from them, and that includes ideas. If someone inspires you, that's wonderful! I'm sure they would like to hear about it. Share that inspiration - just don't claim it as your own.