While doing some research in back issues of your newspaper, the following editorial happened to catch my attention. I have had some fun sharing it with friends and relatives before showing them the date.
Unfortunately, it might bear repeating in this day and age.
Autos and Bad Manners
Gasoline and good manners are seldom found in the same automobile. Mr. Average Person may be fond of dogs, kind to children, good to the folks and considerate of the neighbors, but once behind the wheel of his gas-buggy he becomes belligerent in a big way.
He glares at passing motorists, for no reason; he blows raucous blasts on his horn when forced to slow down; he says harsh words to youngsters who ride bicycles; he hurls insults at the man who beats him to the street intersection. And when the traffic light turns red and compels him to come to a full stop, he gives it a good piece of his mind and calls it everything under the sun but a traffic light.
If this same gentleman and another were about to enter a building on foot, through a door big enough for but one, each would doubtless step back and proffer the right of way to the other.
Why not be just as courteous when behind the wheel of a car? Why let the automobile make us bad-mannered?
Editorial from The Roslyn News, Aug. 16, 1929.
Catherine Pickering
