Grandma ' s lessons apply today

Ah, the Golden Rule: " Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. " Or something like that.

The time has come for me to stir up trouble again, and I would like to take this opportunity to put in my two cents, or at least the two cents I inherited from my grandmother.

So bear with me while I climb up onto my soapbox, and keep in mind that I ' m just trying to make the world a better place in my own small way.

Many of the things that my grandma taught me when I was little seemed stupid at the time, but I did them anyway to avoid her wrath. These things were drilled into my head, and I never understood them. As I ' ve grown older, however, I ' ve recognized both their common theme and the reason for their application.

The theme was respecting other people; the reason was to make the world a better place to live in. I know that sounds cheesy, but you would be surprised how much simple, common courtesy can change the course of your day.

So, without further ado, lessons that I learned from my grandmother:

Walk on the right side of the sidewalk or any other pathway. This would mean a whole lot less bumping into other people. Many people don ' t like it when strangers touch them, and such collisions are a needless annoyance.

The same goes for going through doors. Don ' t be lazy and go through the left-hand door just because it ' s open, because you may run into some poor unsuspecting guy going the other way.

Also, if you know there ' s someone behind you, hold the door open for them or at least give it a push so it will be open long enough for them to get up to it. (Side note: in middle school, I had a door dropped in my face and it smashed my nose hard enough for me to see stars. That was a very bad day - if only he ' d held the door for me . )

Along those same lines, if there ' s only one door (like an elevator), let people out before you go in. There ' s no need to be crowding into such a small space, and you ' re in the way of those trying to get out. Besides, you ' ll have to wait for them to get out anyway, won ' t you?

The whole right-hand side thing may seem a bit ridiculous to some, but think about this: we drive on the right-hand side for a reason - to avoid accidents.

If you ' re in England or anywhere else in the world where they drive on the left, maybe you should walk on the left too. I ' ll have to research that one.

Driving is another area that could benefit from common courtesy. Use your blinkers, don ' t cut people off and don ' t park in more than one space. (Another side note: according to my mother, although I don ' t remember this, my grandma used to threaten to key the cars that took up more than one space, although she never acted on her threat.)

Grandma wanted to know what made some people think they had the right to take up more than their share of spaces, and I wonder the same thing. We ' re all equals here, and we should treat each other as such. Other people benefit when you observe such simple courtesies, and you benefit when they observe them.

Two more things to think about when you ' re in that parking lot: First, parking in handicapped spots when you are not handicapped is not cool. Really.

Having a shopping cart put a dent in your car is also not cool. If everyone put their carts away, there would be no more dents. Don ' t think to yourself, " Hey, nobody else does it, so why should I? " Because if everyone thought like that, there would just be more dented cars and more unhappy people.

Sometimes the world is just not a very happy place, and while these lessons from my childhood may not turn that around, they can at least prevent unnecessary unhappiness. I learned all of that from my grandma as a child, and though she passed away almost 10 years ago, her lessons are still with me.

From lessons on common courtesy to how to play with my food (holding a straw with your forefinger rather than thumb gives you more control, so says the laboratory biologist), my grandma has had a profound impact on how I think about things, and I hope her words give you something to think about too.

So here ' s to hoping that you ' ll be quiet when people are sleeping (shout-out to my roommate), throw away your trash in the proper receptacle, refrain from slamming doors, and avoid cutting in line. And until next time, my soapbox is now safely stored in the cupboard.