How can each individual improve the feeling of “society is a bit shit right now”?

[Limmers14]

I was reading the thread about how people are acting more aggressively and stressed and this has become very evident in the past year along likely caused by a feeling that British society generally, is deteriorating in many ways.

I’d like to try and bring back a feeling of pride in my local area and I thought this could be a thread to share ideas, where to source things, how to fix things - even if they’re just small things. We have to start somewhere.

For example, the street sign on my road is broken. I’ve reported it to the Council many times but it hasn’t been fixed. Where can I get a street sign? I also think planting loads of crocuses in my area on the verges would be nice. Where’s the best place to bulk buy and plant en masse? Things like that. I’d love to hear your ideas.

I’m sure people will come for me and say they have bigger issues than crocuses and yeah, you’re probably right, but if we all try to bring a little light into society, maybe areas will improve and our communities will be happier, leading to more positive outcomes for everyone. (That and voting the Conservatives out next year, obvs)

I'm with @MakemineaGandT smiling and saying good morning to people when out.

Also to all those wanting to plant crocuses, I have used Parkers for bulk buying bulbs in the past. They're quite reasonable prices. I did have a problem with the colour of something coming up wrong and they refunded and let us keep the bulbs! 😀

Just realised that it's called J Parkers.

Reading that thread it seems like just not being an arse to people working with the public, especially when things go wrong, goes a long way.

Agree with this.

I’m one of those workers who gets called cunt/bitch etc on a daily basis. Flowers won’t cheer me up, I just want a smile.

I live in a deprived, inner city. A 16 year old was stabbed and murdered at 4.30 Monday on my local estate. Flowers won’t change that. A change in government hopefully will.

I have a grassy pavement to no where outside my property which is never tended or cut by the council so I've planted a line of wild flowers .
Makes me smile and hopefully the drivers passing by .

Compliment people.
Say please & thank you.
Smile.
Be grateful.

Be nice to people generally. You’ll likely get it back in return

Litter picking. I do my area of town.
I send reports to the council about flytips / items needing repair a few times a week.
Tbh most of my neighbours are so grotty it hasn't inspired anyone else to do it. Today I've got to sort out some broken glass that isn't near my house but the people living next to it have ignored it for a couple of days.
Dog walkers love me though. So that's a win.

What a lovely idea OP and it's great reading the replies and seeing what others are doing.

If you wanted to take it further than just yourself, a group formed in our village to plant flowers, they got some funding from the parish council for it, so it may be worth checking with your local council. Ours gives out small grants to local groups once a year. Check their website.

With regards to litter picking, Keep Britain Tidy has an annual event which people could get involved with, maybe get a group together for it?

I totally agree with the poster above who said that more people should volunteer. If everyone just gave an hour imagine how much better we could make our worlds?

I also wish people would be nicer to each other. I was in the queue at the bank the other day and there was a sign up asking us to respect the staff. I felt sad that they obviously needed to point this out to people.

I started sharing stuff on my local facebook and it really took off.

I posted my DC's bikes as they outgrew them, various other things.
I also collect from a food waste distributor and share it around my area via FB.

People are getting to know each other by collecting and delivering around the village.

As mentioned above, Rotary clubs do loads of positive work and even if you don't want to join, may be able to help you out with community projects.

I think interacting politely with people makes a huge difference to how society works. If everyone was just a little bit nicer to each other and a little bit more considerate of others things would be better. Imagine public transport if everyone wore headphones to listen to their phones, avoided eating smelly food, disposed of their own litter and encouraged their children to sit quietly. It would be lovely!

I am quite old, but we were brought up to always consider other people, particularly in public places, and adjust our behaviour accordingly. There seems to have been a swing to 'I'll do whatever I want, because I want to' which isn't conducive to a harmonious society.

My job is basically a support role to lots of organisations who are working to improve society in various ways, from litter picks, to arts centres, to helping disengaged children learn and everything in between.

Often if I do mention my work, people are really surprised that some of the functions covered are not carried out by the government. Obviously I hope that one day in a better world they will be, but on the flip side of that I just want to raise awareness of how much of society functions because some people do simply decide that they want to fix a problem and they take it forward. It is very very significant.

I think joining or even starting a residents' group is an excellent thing to do, if you have the time and energy,!

Try emailing your local parish/district/county councillors about the street sign.

wrt that mad Russell Brand post, I think we could do with a bit more judgement frankly!

Yes to litter picking and the flower stuff. Our village has a semi regular litter pick.

I cut through a park area on my way to the bus stop. I pick up as much litter as I can and bin it. On my return journey I pick up any glass bottles for recycling. It's not much but maybe save a kid or a dog from being cut. I'd love to do a bit more.

I think if you want to change your "feeling" you need to change your life and the people you mix with/what you see on SM.

I don't think society is "shit". I work for a charity working in London's most deprived Brough. Some people there have terrible lives but the society around them isn't shit, I see wonderful acts of kindness everyday.

My friends are kind and supportive to me and others and my SM is mostly positive with some activism around things that aren't so good.

I feel pretty positive about "society" TBH it's much better than the selfishness of the 80s, despite the current government's best efforts to replicate that.

Be less offensive and less offended. Be more patient and less demanding. Be less concerned about whether you can do something and more concerned about whether you should.

Really think about the impact your actions are having or may have on other people but on the flip side, don't assume malice in others when ignorance or thoughtlessness are more likely.

Is there any volunteering you can do in the evening with a 9 year old? Would love any ideas.

Just being nice to people. I was shopping in Aldi the other day and the cashier asked me how I was, I said the standard, “Good thanks, how are you?” And he commented that no one asks how he is! So now I make a point of asking every time. Try to remember that workers are experiencing the same level of shitness as you are, they’re paying a fortune for their shopping or can’t get medical appointments etc etc too!

Try to volunteer a bit of your time and if you can’t do that, don’t complain about what the volunteers are offering. DH and I volunteer hours and hours for our village social committee, DH in particular, and without fail there are complaints and moaning about every single event we put on. It’s too expensive, too cheap (yes really!), there’s not enough for the kids to do (at an event not really aimed at kids but that they’re welcome to attend), we haven’t booked (and paid for!) the band that’s been coming to the village forever (because they’re shit and more expensive than any other band and they want food provided by us for all the concert goers), we don’t open the village hall bar on Saturdays as well as Fridays (DH already volunteers every Friday night after work to open it, he’s not giving up his Saturday too!), and the list goes on…

Do random nice stuff, even if you seem a bit mad.
I get a buzz out of imagining that somebody might be happy because of an action, so it's not even altruistic!
Stuff I have done:
Leave a small Easter Egg on neighbours' doorstep 3 houses either direction, plus a few people I know were alone.
Some stuff in my front garden during the pandemic, to cheer neighbours and their kids up during daily walk. I had a storyline running and left a pot of chalks outside so that the kids could write what they thought was going to happen next. Yes, the chalks got nicked. Yes, some of the suggestions were a bit off-colour, but a lot of fun was had.
Volunteer for a variety of things. Easy way of getting to know loads of people! (For transparency I work full time, but get bored really easily so this works well for me. I do regular prison stuff, occasional homeless soup runs and a heritage thing.)

We do little acts daily. Always take 2 or 3 extra poop bags when we walk the dog. Can give them to people who forgot, can pick up poop (or filled poop bags ?!) that has been left by others or can use to pick up litter.

We found that gradually we are going further and further from home on our walks before sorting problems as a clean environment stays clean longer.

Very fortunate where we live in that while homes are being squeezed in everywhere and no increase in schools or doctors surgeries, people smile and say hello (and if someone doesn’t respond I just think maybe they didn’t hear or have other reasons and don’t let it deter me. I’m spreading what I believe northerners have always done naturally….in the past). Drivers thank each other for waiting even if it’s their right of way anyway. You can tell when someone isn’t local! Someone started planting bulbs on the corners now a whole team of volunteers plant seasonal bulbs at every road sign throughout the year. It’s wonderful and as in the past people pick up litter dropped outside their property now you see people picking up litter along their way to the shops etc. as s result there is very little litter waiting for the once in a blue moon council workers to come along and clear the litter. Bins that were once overflowing have been removed but the litter that was once overflowing is nowhere to be seen.

Oh and people put out boxes of surplus fruit saying help yourself.

I think the suggestions of remembering to thank people and on occasions letting people go first go a surprisingly long way.

In my family we started 'pick up at least one piece of litter a day ' thing.

On the basis of if everyone did this ....etc

It's quite compulsive actually and it's hard to stop at one.