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Who's on first? Mr. Civility!

The rules of civility dictate that we hold our tongue when others are engaged in uncivil behavior -- particularly if what we are moved to say would serve only as an accelerant. Just today, a Sun colleague was tempted to stick his nose where it didn't belong (described below). He gets a crown of laurels for restraining his sarcastic wit and remaining mum, a very civilized thing to do under the circumstances.

"A guy in my neighborhood drug store today was having a very angry confrontation with the checkout clerk over I dunno what," our friend writes. "She is one of the many Russian-speakers in our neck of the woods, but I don't think that was the problem. The guy threatened to charge her with assault and he kept asking, 'What's the name of your supervisor? . . .  'What's the name of your supervisor!?' I carefully refrained from interjecting, 'No, What's the name of the fella on second base."

Good choice. Not very exciting, holding tongue like that. But very civil.

Posted by Dan Rodricks at 7:27 PM | | Comments (0)
        

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About Dan Rodricks
Jan. 8, 2009, marked 30 years for Dan Rodricks' column in The Baltimore Sun. Over three decades, Dan has won numerous regional and several national awards for his reporting and commentary -- in print and on the air. "I've had opportunity to write a column and work in both radio and television, never having to leave my adopted hometown of Baltimore to have those experiences," he says. "I consider myself very fortunate." In addition to writing a twice-weekly column for The Baltimore Sun and his Random Rodricks blog, Dan is currently the host of Midday, on WYPR-FM, National Public Radio in Baltimore. An artful story-teller and social critic, he has observed local, state and national political and cultural trends for three decades, and has a lot to say about almost everything.
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