Let's all do better in 2024

The holiday season is always an appropriate time to reflect, reassess and start anew in our endless quest of emerging as kind and considerate citizens of the universe. And so, with that in mind, here are a list of friendly suggestions for us to incorporate in our individual game scripts to make 2024 the greatest year to date.

1. People walking their pit bulls unleashed: I’m a dog lover and have always been around canines since the day I was born, but the prospect of a 140-pound muscle-bound pit bull running at me at full speed doesn’t exactly warm the cockles of this writer’s heart. Luckily, the charging pit bulls I’ve encountered thus far all just wanted to get a quick whiff of me as they probably picked up the scent of my 70-pound regal beagle.

2. Stop grousing over tipping: Every Tom, Dick and Harry in every Starbucks or corner drug store pining for tips – either electronically or via the ole tip jar – has incurred the wrath of many a podcaster and social critic. My take on that is as long as those gratuities are going to the cashier, waiter, busboy or delivery person – and not a business owner – I’m totally fine with it. Working retail isn’t for the faint of heart. My days of waiting tables in high school and college instantly revealed that providing customer service can be a humbling experience. A dollar in the tip jar is a great way to support service providers by showing them your appreciation of a job well done.

3. Time for realtors to keep it real: As someone who’s in the market for a new home, it kind of blows me away how many times I described what I was looking for in a residence to one realtor, only to get presented with undesirable inventory that didn’t suit my needs. I mean, why in the world would a single guy with a paucity of spare time and a mid-sized dog be interested in a 3,000 square foot, four-bedroom home in need of anywhere between $60,000 to $100,000 worth of repairs?

4. Let’s all take some time to unplug: Forgive me if I’ve mentioned this previously, but putting my phone away during my time in the gym continues to have a rejuvenating effect on yours truly. Actually, one of the best things to happen to me in recent memory was having my longtime Facebook account hacked into a little over a year ago. After numerous tries to regain access, I simply ceased using the social media platform for personal reasons and I haven’t missed it one bit. Life is a lot better without having to argue and/or defend yourself from self-righteous keyboard commandos who don’t have a whole bunch going on in the real world.

5. Let’s settle down with the Bible verses: A lot of folks who love to label themselves men or women of faith (i.e. “believers!”) will go out of their way to quote or text you passages from the Holy Book, only to turn around and chronically lie, hate on others and cheat on their spouses or significant others. If I’m in the mood for some good old fashioned preachin’, I’ll go seek it from a trained pastor in one of many houses of worship.

6. Being mindful of spatial awareness: Whether we’re shopping for food, posing for a spur-of-the-moment selfie or trying to slide in or out of a mall parking lot, let’s look alive and be aware of who’s in front of or behind us.

7. Quit using the free speech card: Yes, we are entitled to our own opinions, but let’s not abuse our free speech by promulgating hate. Let’s use this freedom to engage in intelligent conversations and learn from one another instead of using words to intimidate and alienate.

8. Don’t back away from promises: If you have ever uttered the words, “Let me know if I can help” or “If there’s anything I can do,” then be ready to deliver if the person experiencing tough times truly needs your support. Some peeps love tossing around these pleasantries just to make themselves feel virtuous.

9. Enough with tearing down statues: On the heels of the latest monument that will soon be removed (see the Confederate statue at Arlington National Cemetery), here are we again trying to cancel history. Whether you agree with what happened in the past or not, we cannot change it, but we can learn from it. Canceling and/or rewriting past events deprives future generations of perspective. And yes, some of the folks we read about in history books were reprehensible, but trying to judge folks from the 1700s – or even the 1920s for that matter?— by using today’s standards is an exercise in futility. Okay, I’m stepping off my soap box.

10. Stop sharing your poop: Back in New York, I had one of my neighbors continually toss his bagged dog poop in my garbage can, which I wouldn’t make a big stink about if the Sanitation Department didn’t refuse to dump it with the rest of my waste during their trash collections. The good neighbor would never come out to talk to me when I knocked on his door about it, so I resorted to slinging the poop bags at his porch. Needless to say, it was a messy situation. We can all do better.