What ever happened to chivalry?

Perhaps a better title would be that common courtesy is dying, but either way one gets the general idea. Yesterday I was coming home from doing some grocery shopping and was in the process of taking my groceries upstairs. If you have ever had to live in a high rise, then you understand this is not an easy task. It involves carrying as many bags as possible to minimize the number of trips one needs to make, plus opening several doors, one of which is probably a key card door, which requires maneuvering yet again and then hopefully getting to the elevator without dropping anything. Well, yesterday I managed to do all of that, only to get to the elevator and have a man look at me and say "I'm going down lady," and promptly hop in the elevator and push the close button. Really? I mean, he could have at least offered to hit the up button before heading down, one floor, to the basement....does anybody use the stairs anymore? And unfortunately, the word lady doesn't really have a connotation of respect. As much as being called Ma'am makes me feel old, at least it still feels respectful.

Now I realize that I am overgeneralizing. Most people offer to hold to door or will push the button on the elevator for you, but sometimes I just wonder what people are thinking. Anyhow, this is just one example of several experiences I've had of late that has just left me feeling irked.

May 1st marked the one year anniversary of my job search. Happy anniversary to me! While I'm not unemployed, I certainly am feeling worn down by the effort of looking for a job that is something I want to do. I do have a follow-up interview for an 8th grade Language Arts position. I will be going in to teach a lesson for the school this coming Monday. I'm excited that I've finally had some action in the job search, but am still apprehensive about how I feel about the position in general. Middle school wasn't were I saw myself teaching, but at the same time this is the only response I've had since last August.

I've been thinking a great deal about what my next move will be if I'm not offered this job. Lots of ideas about what I want to do in general. So I'm just going to see how this interview goes and then move on from there. In the meantime, I will wrap up my tutoring next week and continue to sub for the remainder of the school year.