How do you measure up?

Maybe I'm just getting to be a grumpy old guy, or maybe I've just lived long enough to finally observe life and come to some conclusions. I don't know which it is... maybe a little of both.

I've watched people from many walks of life, both in the USA and in different countries, so I think I have a fairly good base from which to pass on my opinion. It isn't necessarily right, but I don't think it's far from wrong.

I looked up the word - narcissism, and here's what I read.

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Narcissism - with an origin from about 1815 to 1825.
1. Excessive love or admiration of oneself. See Synonyms at conceit.
2. A psychological condition characterized by self-preoccupation, lack of empathy, and unconscious deficits in self-esteem.

Synonyms for narcissism: self-centeredness, smugness, egocentrism.

So I looked up - conceit.

Conceit - with an origin from about 1350 to 1400. Obviously, we've been aware of this for quite a while.
1. an excessively favorable opinion of one's own ability, importance, wit, etc.

Synonyms: self-esteem, vanity, egotism, complacency.
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I basically already knew all of this, but I've been thinking that these definitions need to have a 21st century update. You see it all the time, with the way people act. Courtesy and basic thoughtfulness seem to have become passe, and on any given day you can see a dozen examples of self-importance.

• Driving on the freeway, while talking or even texting on their phone or PDA. Isn't driving job 1, for everybody's safety?

• A meeting ends, so they come out of the meeting room and continue the meeting in the hallway, essentially blocking the path for people to get through.

• Shopping in the grocery store, and another person shopping has parked their cart dead center in the aisle.

• Someone driving down the road flips the butt of their cigarette out the window, instead of putting it in the trash.

• A group of people are walking down a pathway. They are walking abreast of each other, taking up 90% of the hallway. As you approach from the opposite direction, they act as if it's an inconvenience to step aside and let you pass.

• Working out at the gym, and someone has finished using a piece of equipment, just sits at it, keeping anyone else for using it. Or leaving a piece of equipment, without unloading the weights they put on to work out.

• Sitting a restaurant, and someone at the next table gets a call on their cell phone. They sit there and let it ring and ring before they answer it, and then once they do, they talk loud enough for everyone within four tables to hear everything they say.

• Smokers who take no effort to avoid non-smokers, while taking their cigarette break.

The list goes on and on, but I think you get the idea. All of these actions show a thorough lack of consideration for anyone else. They perpetually place their own need or importance first, and forsake anyone or anything that might interrupt their current activity, and take offense at their selfishness being brought to their attention.

Don't get me wrong, there are people that are not that way, and you can easily identify them. They act in such a way as to be in total contrast to the people above. It's so refreshing to see people act this way, that I can't help but smile when I do. Maybe I should start telling them thank you.

I've lived in Seoul, Korea for while, which has eleven million people, and in my time there, I saw few situations where the same kind of egocentric behavior was evident. They are a much more respectful people as a whole. I encountered more reverence from total strangers than from people I associate with now, let alone strangers.

I would just like people to think before they act. We all have to work together in this world, if we want to make it last. Is taking a few extra seconds to consider how you appear to other people too much to ask? Some days I think this is probably so. There would be a lot less animosity and stress if we did.

Even George Bush has taken the country's narcissism to the highest level. When discussing the problems and actions we should take to combat global warming, he said that some steps were not on the table, because they would be bad for the U.S. economy. Well I guess we had better get used to a changed world. This problem and a host of others will never be truly addressed if we continue to think like that... How do you measure up?

Rant over. :o)