Civility

introduced by Terri Palmer

Please join the Zoom Meeting here: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/971381033

The etymology of "civility" means "related to or befitting public life or citizens." It therefore originally had to do with how people conduct themselves in public.

We associate the word "civility" with politeness, kindness, decorum, and above all with following laws and social norms. Civil people follow the rules generally assumed to lead to public order, which in turn require understanding the needs of other people and behaving differently in public than in private. For a large city, this can mean anything from "don't shove" to "wear headphones" to "wear a mask if you're sick" to "help those in obvious need."

Since the pandemic, people report they feel a decrease in civility in public spaces, perhaps attributable to the trauma of isolation or to simple loss of practice with these rules. A few years of a bad economy surely also contribute to this, as do rising rates of homelessness.

What do we owe to people around us? And what do we owe to people in greater distress than us — do the rules of civility apply equally to the person stuck on transit on the way to their third job as they do to someone with a secure position?

Please join the Zoom Meeting here: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/971381033