What Happened to Gentility?

So I was just witness to possibly the best example of what is wrong with the world...

I was driving on my university's campus and was coming up on a crosswalk. Now you have to be very careful about crosswalks here, because people are crossing all the time without looking. So a girl in a lovely dress with nice hair and cute sandals comes up to the intersection. She has headphones on and probably can't hear much. So two cars that should have stopped for her go on through. The last car would have easily hit her if she hadn't stopped. So what does she do? Instead of muttering something under her breath as most of us would have done, she flips off the person in the car.

Okay, not the most ladylike thing to do. I probably wouldn't have done it, but oh well what's done is done.

So the car might have not seen the person at the crosswalk and perhaps that is why they didn't stop. Maybe? Nope. He/she at least saw the girl when she flashed the bird. So the driver stops the car and opens the door to yell back at the girl. I mean instead of acknowledging that they did something wrong by not stopping for a person at a crosswalk and just going on their merry way, this person actually opens the door and screams back at the girl they almost ran over...

So on this note, I'd like to invoke a day of politeness. Even if people are rude to you, be polite back to them. It will surprise them! Trust me! I use it on a regular basis, and I won't lie to you. Sometimes it doesn't do a bit of good. Other times people apologize for their rudeness and everyone goes away happier. Besides nothing is more entertaining than the look on someone's face that has just been rude to you when you smile at them, and are painfully polite right back.