Social Awareness Is Far More Important Than Social Distancing*

Post author:Andrew J Guinosso
Post published:March 4, 2022
Post category:Thoughts From The Peanut Gallery / Wisdom In A Nutshell

Social awareness is much more important than social distancing, despite what conventional wisdom demands in response to the coronavirus. We have all come to know what social distancing means, but I am not sure how many people know and respect the concept of social awareness.

The Prompt for This Post

Over the past weekend (Saturday, February 26), I was sitting outside Café Cavelli in North Beach, San Francisco having a cup of Jasmine tea and two cuccidati cookies (Italian fig cookies) when a young man rode his bicycle near my table, dismounted, and tried to navigate between the tables to find a place to lean his bike. He had to roll the bicycle back a few times and, in doing so, he pushed his bike into an older couple walking by on the pavement. He did not seem to realize that he had bumped the gentleman with some force, which was quite obvious to me and the couple. And, he did not look around to see if the way were clear; nor did he verbally acknowledge the couple or apologize for his actions. He seemed to be completely unaware and living in what I have come to refer to as a “universe of one.”

The Concept of Social Awareness

Social awareness (or situational awareness) is almost as important as self-awareness. The former awareness indicates our understanding that we are members of society. As members of society, we are required to pay attention to what is happening around us, that is, in our immediate vicinity. It is the foundation for the courtesy and concern we must show for our fellow citizens. To ignore everyone else or to not be aware of their presence is the height of rudeness. Fortunately, it is an easy issue to remedy, but it does take practice. I hope you will join me in becoming more socially aware and to practice it every day.

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Cordially,

Andrew J. Guinosso

Explanatory Note*

This is a repost. I had to restore my website to a prior date because of a technical problem. As a result of restoring the website, I lost three posts and had to rewrite them.