The country is slowly starting to open up after the COVID lockdowns. People are short-tempered and, like me, didn’t realize it. The lack of social interaction, combined with the financial strains, have tested everyone’s patience.
I remember as a toddler, I was taught to how to respect others, how to not pick fights with anyone and how to be nice to people. Taking care of ourselves was natural. But how to treat others was a completely different story!
People are now frustrated and angry. Everyone seems to blame someone. We don’t focus on how to respect others anymore – instead, we are blaming them. Everyone’s focus became what we are entitled to, not others. It seems we are blaming someone else because we don’t have what they have, and it is someone else’s fault!
As a 6-year-old, I knew that if I was intentionally mean to another kid I would get in trouble. If I picked a fight with another kid, or if I didn’t respect them, I got in trouble. I knew I was wrong, and I was made to apologize. Now, it seems it is a competition on how to insult someone in the quickest way possible.
I feel like the whole world just got out of timeout. I think we forgot how to be nice and respect other people. And most importantly, we forgot how to be friends.
Can’t we all just get along? Please?
Karen Brilliant Andrews
Lisbon
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