Thoughtful moment: Common courtesy is now an oxymoron.
It amazes me that people just don’t use manners like they used to.
Gods, that makes me sound old.
Common, everyday occurrences, like passing someone in a crowded room, or hallway, used to garner you an “Excuse me”, and you’d say the same back. Not so much anymore.
A sneeze was always a “Bless you”, to which the proper reply was “Thank you.” (People used to believe that a sneeze was an opening through which the devil could steal your soul, hence, the “bless you” kept him at bay, saving your soul from damnation – something you kinda wanted to thank someone for, I guess!)
Please, thank you, excuse me, pardon me, may I… all these seem to have fallen by the wayside in a good portion of our interactions with others. I see it every day in my office.
My children are pretty good about using manners. I trained them from the time they could talk, that they needed to be courteous. Being courteous often got them things that they wanted, when being discourteous would only get them sent to their rooms. It paid off to be using the manners.
So, how do you get people to use their manners? I’ve tried a couple of different ways.
*I’ve tried the “So sweet she’d rot your teeth” routine. It only works at certain times on certain people. And I can’t keep it up for long. My brain starts to sizzle and hurt from over-straining the “Pollyanna” routine.
If you do that too long, your face sticks that way FOR-EVER!
*I’ve tried the “overly loud sigh and passive-aggressively point out how much you love courteous people” routine. For the truly rude – it goes completely over their heads. They just don’t think it applies to them – But yeah, everyone else is a total jerk, right?
*I’ve tried to “rise above it” and just be myself, using the manners, and going on about my business, no matter how rude the other person is. It – really depends on who this is, and how rude they’ve been. There are some lines in the sand for me, that I won’t let others cross without comment. I have to say something before I walk off.
I wish… and I know it’s probably a futile one, that people would start using the polite mannerisms again. When did it become acceptable to be this way? When did people stop caring about others, and become societal sociopaths?
*sigh*
Excuse me, I need a nap. My brain hurts. Thanks for playing. And be kind – the next person you hold a door for, could be a serial killer who hates rude people…
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