I continue to ride Washington's Metrorail system to and from work because it beats having to sit in traffic for hours each and breath in the exhaust of millions of cars.  Having said that, as I observe my fellow commuters each day, I have to wonder if we are getting dumber in this country, or what.

I watched a guy the other day, wait until the subway car doors were almost closed before thrusting his body between them, where he promptly got stuck.  He stood there, as bland as a cow, until the doors were opened by the driver and he could get on.  He then put his body in front of the door, blocking half of it, and stayed there for several stations, forcing people to squeeze past him to get on or off the train.  Is that ignorance or rudeness?  Or, is it a combination of the two?

I was flying from Hong Kong last year and happen to hear two American ladies behind me as we boarded the plane, a 747.  She was gushing over everything - and if you've ever been in the new Hong Kong airport, it is gushable - and I heard her say to her companion, "Gosh, I didn't know they made airplanes with two stories."  I kid you not, that is a verbatim quote.

And, please don't get me started on the quality (or lack thereof) of writing on the Internet these days.  It's like no one has a spellchecker, ever heard of a thesaurus, and complete sentences are obselete.  Is our education system failing us, or have we just ceased to care  I refuse to blame it on computers.  Computers do not force us to misspell words or truncate sentences, they just make it easier.

I could go on and on, but then I'd start sounding like a grumpy old man.  Oh my gosh, I AM a grumpy old man!!!