A little rant about respect

When I was growing up, respect was something that my parents instilled upon me. My Mum used to say that no matter what another person had, whether it was cheap or expensive, whether it was perfect or falling apart - that thing was theirs, and I should respect it.

So it upsets me when I see someone not respecting someone else's property.

I have tried very hard to do this my whole life. If I visit you and have a coffee at your house, I will ask for a coaster no matter whether the table is brand new or scratched and dinted.

If I view your garden full of weeds, I will pick out a good feature and say "What a beautiful flower! And your roses are coming on beautifully!" - There - that isn't so hard to do is it?

We don't have a model house and garden. It isn't perfect. The lawn needs cutting and the garden needs weeding but I still think that people should respect our property.

So it upset me when my sister was round with her dogs and sitting on my front porch started pulling out large chunks of loose hair off one of her German Shepherds and just letting it fly into the garden. I said "don't do that, I will get you a plastic bag and you can put it in there and I will put it in the rubbish".

and then she laughed and said "What - you think it will mess your weeds up?"

How rude. How disrespectful of someone else's property. Why do people have to do that?