Being Civil? Yeah...I don't think so

"Be civil to all; sociable to many; familiar with few; friend to one; enemy to none."
~Benjamin Franklin

Be civil to all...Now there's a concept. But what is "being civil"? Many people seem to use the phrase "common courtesy" interchangeably with "being civil". In reality, I believe that these are two very different ideas. Common Courtesy. This consists of a set of rules or guidelines on what to do in just basic respect between human beings. Acknowledging when someone walks into the room, Holding a door open for someone right behind you, keeping your voices down and talking to a minimum during a movie. These are all filed under "common courtesy". But being civil? I think that's another topic.

Maybe it's the slow perversion of our language over the sands of time, or perhaps it's just the rising amount of hatred running through our collective veins. Whatever the reason, "being civil" is hardly a good thing to be. According to the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, "civil often suggests little more than the avoidance of overt rudeness." Upon reading this, I'm sure many of you are starting to see where I'm going with this. "overt rudeness"...which means to not be openly rude. So, more then likely there are bad feelings toward the person in which one is "being civil" to. If there is a problem with them, should you not have the common courtesy...no should they not have a right to know what the problem is? It could just be a misunderstanding, or a drop in the lines of communication. Instead, society has created this "being civil" to allow people a way to avoid confrontation like this.

People may not want the confrontation for various reasons. Perhaps, it's the friend of your significant other. Maybe it's your boss. For whatever reason, living a lie is easier then confrontation. That's what "being civil" really is, lying. While some people may be civil to someone powerful, in hopes of being thrown a bone, Others may just stand civil as to not create turmoil among a group of friends. While the latter motive may seem perfectly reasonable to most, if a problem is covered up, its still a problem. Therefore, it would be a smart idea to confront the issue head on and resolve it. Or at least come to an understanding. I'm sorry Ben, but in this day, your civil is anything but "civil".

S.T.