Is it strange to anyone else that simple, pleasant behavior is strikingly uncommon? Take, for instance, my Saturday night.

After enjoying the absurdity of Downtown and the animalistic mating rituals that occur there, I had the good fortune of having a pleasant cab ride back to campus.

Going home alone, since the group I was with had gone its separate ways, I was able to easily get a seat sitting shotgun. The other occupants and I had a pleasant conversation as I helped the cab driver gather money from my fellow passengers.

The numbers began to dwindle after I gave the driver my ID upon reaching campus, as people got off at their respective dorms. Soon it was just the cabbie and myself. At this time he came out with a slew of compliments for me, thanking me for my help and wishing me luck in my college endeavors. By the way he was talking, any bystander would think I was some sort of saint.

As I made my way to the Nite Owl for some delicious pizza logs, I thought over what had just happened. In hindsight, it was very strange.

It’s not as though I make any sort of conscious effort to be a ‘good guy.’ I didn’t gather the money or do anything else I did in order to impress anybody or put on some kind of show. Do we really live in a society where simple, common ways to behave around other humans have become a rarity?

Assuming that this cab driver wasn’t just having some bad string of luck that weekend and I seemed like a Buddhist monk in comparison, there must actually be a problem. In a world where hurtful actions between individuals have become more prevalent even among young children ‘ as Pamela Paul talks about in her New York Times article ‘The Playground Gets Even Tougher’ ‘ our generation needs to set a good example for those who will follow.

Uncouth behavior cannot become the norm and even parents are having trouble realizing that. They encourage their sons and daughters to keep up alienating and rash behavior as long as their child remains within the ‘in group.’

Perhaps it is time we all become a little more reflective about the way we act among other people. We’re all in the same boat here at Binghamton, as college students and as human beings.

I’m not saying to go out of your way with kindness or anything. I know for a fact that I’m not the kind of person that does that at all. But take a week and truly pay attention to the little things you do: holding doors, your Downtown bus etiquette, etc. Hopefully the positive behavior will become second nature; then you won’t even need to exert the energy thinking about it.

Just be careful about who you’re friendly with and how friendly you are to them, or you may end up with a nice post-nasal drip like I currently have.