I found this article, A new year's resolution: Could we be a little more polite, please? to be a good reminder for everyone in the new year.
It's easy in a highly technological world to be cold and to sometimes write or say things that we never would have said to each other in normal conversation. One of my pet peeves is how people will communicate to each other over anonymous message boards or comments sections. Locally, we're one community. We have our ups and downs and good news and bad news like any other. A good mark of each other and the community is how we respond. Casting aspersions or engaging in petty arguments with ugly personal attacks wins no one an award and only makes all of us look a little less civil.
Everyone wants to see progress and economic development happen. We'd like to see people move to the community and be assets to the town bringing new business or services. However, I am troubled by the impression we give others outside of our community reading the online newspaper or forums about the Sauk Valley area. If you're an outsider curious about the area and interested in locating your business or moving your family here, does negativity by local anonymous posters help in any way?
People do their research and reading the local paper is one means. Going there and finding gobs of negativity and infighting doesn't aid our cause. So for 2009, let's celebrate our good news, be happy for people with good news, and when sad news comes our, let's find ways to constructively and civilly correct the issues. A lot of people care about the community, so let's take that energy and put it to productive use. Civility goes a long way in making our cities into communities.
