Is it just me or is the practice of manners steadily heading into oblivion?
Not only just general courteousness in acknowledging others but also consideration for others. For those unfamiliar with these terms courteousness is defined as ‘of court-like manners; pertaining to, or expressive of, courtesy; characterised by courtesy; civil; obliging; well bred; polite; affable, while consideration can be defined as ‘having regard for the needs, feelings, rights of others’.
I’m not just talking about uttering a good morning, or please or thank you which, by the way, are noticeably absent from the dialogue of most children these days and even seem to have been forgotten by their parents. Rather it seems that even getting a thank-you out of someone for a birthday gift is a rarity these days. Personally a thank you is not just an acknowledgement of the money spent but rather about the time and effort put into finding that something special. Even thank you cards or notes for wedding gifts seemed to have disappeared off the face of the earth. I’m not suggesting for one minute that people should revert back to the now almost archaic postal system, even a simple sms or email will suffice.
And what about showing respect to your elders? How often have you been in a room or a queue somewhere where not one person will offer an elderly person their chair or allow them in front of the queue?
Don’t even get me started on motorists! How some people feel it is their right to cut in front of a stationary queue in peak hour traffic while other motorists patiently wait their turn, irks me daily.
It’s almost as if we are becoming more and more fragmented as a society and showing little or no regard for others and instead opting for the “every man for himself” philosophy. Where has all our neighbourly love gone to? Do people even know what their neighbours look like and what their names are, as opposed to what cars they drive or what schools their children attend. No one seems to show interest in anyone other than their chosen circle. Why? Surely through showing interest and care towards others in the smallest of ways we can start to mend bridges and truly understand people and even perhaps start to care about them.
As Francis Bacon so aptly puts it -"If a man be gracious and courteous to strangers it shows he is a citizen of the world".
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