Attitudes

I've always been a great believer that you can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar, but that adage as i am coming to terms with it, is an outdated one. Attitude rules. Being , rude, aggressive and bitchy is the norm rather than the exception these days.
Take for example the reality television show ON Air in India these days, BIGG BOSS, the Indian version of the BIG BROTHER, it rules the roost with its aggressive and crass behaviour and is generating many an eyeball and is the focus of many a lunch time conversations. Beeps outnumber the actual conversations and the devious, scheming, rude and aggressive contestants stay on in the house to well, continue using rude aggressive and devious methods against their fellow housemates. I sat through a couple of episodes riveted, unable to move and extremely curious about what would unfold next. I watched with voyeuristic pleasure when violence was bubbling among some of the contestants and smirked a sly smile when romance was in the offing..but I watched.
A similar situation is there in today's workplace. A place where egos are inflated and importance is often a misplaced notion. Colleagues would think nothing of pilfering other people's work and passing them off as their own. They would gloat about their ability to get away with it and be part of the dirty office political cesspool. I see a huge difference in the quality of talent we hire. Most people come through influential "recommendations" and have very little or nil talent to show for it. In the end its all about making yourself be seen and heard using any kind of means to do it.
Gone are the days when hard work and sincerity paid. A Good Morning, Hello and Thank You are of the dark ages. A smile or a helping hand or genuine humanity is hard to come by and instead back biting, plotting and underhand duplicity is on the rise. Many a days when i drive back home, i wonder what to teach my daughter. When push comes to shove, how will a smile or a thank you or sincerity help her along? How can she remain immune in an violent world where school kids don't think twice about pulling the trigger and success is measured by the "connections" your father has.
I am pulled between wanting to do the right thing and not lose my soul and yet wanting to taste success too. But I still want to be able to sleep at night knowing that my smile may have lifted the spirits of someone like me and spread some niceness in an otherwise aggressive world