Uncommon Common Courtesy

You're trying to merge on a highway, and you get boxed out and have to fall back. You hold a door open for someone, and not only do you not get a thank you, but their cell phone conversation keeps them from even making eye contact, and at the very least, a smile. You're number 4 out of 5 on line to pay for something, and a new register opens. The moron behind you jumps ahead of the people who were actually waiting longer in front of you.
   The list goes on. The technology age and the world of social networking has taken away from us a most common trait: courtesy. We no longer have to interact like we used to. Smart phones make some dumb people. Everyone is so engrossed in texting(while walking, while shopping, while DRIVING) that they have no consideration for the people around them. We're raising a generation of socially detached "Rudies" who get no interaction from Mom and Dad, if they're even lucky enough to have 2 parents, because they're abbreviating on a keypad to their equally disinterested friends, and absolutely NO ONE can spell anymore. Grammar, punctuation, and discretion have taken a back seat to seclusion, distraction and ignorance.
   I can remember not many years ago when I held a door open for someone, I got a 'thank you'. How difficult is it to take .7 seconds out of your day to acknowledge a complete stranger who just made your day a little easier? People have forgotten what it's like to just be nice. To say please and thank you. To not be so out of the realm of courteous actions that some actually go out of their way to not be nice? What the hell is going on? I don't make any claims to the following- being a perfect parent; not letting someones bad day affect me; never getting frustrated at the idiocy around me. But i will claim this: I raised my kids to say please and thank you, to not be rude to others, to not judge, to not always put themselves first, and to pay attention. My kids don't have cell phones yet, but when they do, there will be boundaries and rules. I will stay involved in their lives to the extent that my parenting will dictate, I will not ignore them, and I will love them unconditionally. They will grow up to help, be nice to, and love their fellow man. It's not that hard at all. We can change this pattern of Uncommon common courtesy.......