Manners

More and more each day I run across many people that have either forgotten or never have been taught “manners”; it used to be that any person that was going to succeed in any society needed to schooled or have learned and needed to know how to use their “manners” in order to be considered educated, or professional.

I work in a professional arena and “manners” seem to be non-existent, I cannot tell you the last time when I held a door for someone who they actually said “thank-you”.  People seem to have the distinct notion that everyone should “do for me” and “get out of my way” the most heard word out of all their mouths is I or MY.

Tis a sad state of affairs that our country has become that bullish, boorish and unruly child that the British so often talk about behind our backs.  It is also sad that the youth of other countries are often looking to our country as an example and starting to mimic our bad habits, such as poor manners, and then we wonder why we have such a hard time with foreign policy!

By manners I mean more than saying “please and thank-you” although that would be a start, but also having the manners to listen to others and not be formulating what we want to say next while they are talking.  Manners also can be called “respect”, knowing that we need to treat each other as equals and to value each other and treat each other with the same respect that we would like to be treated with; I know this sounds altruistic however it is not a goal that is unobtainable, people just need to take time to stop and “THINK” before they act.

So the next time you go out, open the door for someone and do it with a smile, even if they do not thank-you, know that you have done your part to promote manners, and Keep up the Good Work!