Manners

Do you remember when you were young being taught to say “Please” and “Thank you”?

Do you remember being asked, “Where are your manners?”, when you forgot to say “please” or “thank you”?

Although I don’t have any children of my own, I’ve witnessed other people saying those same things to their children. How about you, have you experienced this with your own children or other people’s’ children?

I don’t know about you, but thinking about manners, and finding myself commenting on the habits (or missing habits!) of “the young”, makes me feel very old!

Do you find yourself getting annoyed when others don’t say “Please” or “Thank you” to you or is it just me?

I know I just commented that it’s the “young” that seem to be lacking manners these days, but to be honest I actually think it’s far more than just some younger folk that seem to have no manners anymore. e.g. Just the other day I was leaving one of our offices at work and stopped to hold the door on the way out for someone else who also worked there (I didn’t know them but knew they worked there too as they were wearing their id badge), she just walked through the door without uttering a word to me, or even looking in my direction!

What has happened to our society these days? Again maybe it’s just me, but I feel we’re becoming a less caring society, where many are so self-focused looking after themselves that they have no time be concerned or even consider how others feel.

Obviously what I’ve said here are generalisations, because I’m sure, like you, you can think of many younger folk who are polite and considerate to everyone. There’s plenty of folk like you and me out there who can continue to be polite and considerate towards others, and in doing so hopefully show there impolite folk that it costs nothing to show manners to others.

So go on, be polite and considerate, say “Please” and “Thank you” at all the applicable times, don’t care that some may think you’re strange or old-fashioned because you are showing your manners. After all Jesus didn’t care what others thought of Him, but instead continued to show how much He loved and cared for each one of us. We must help make this world a more caring place where everyone cares about their neighbour and goes that extra mile to help someone in need, because that’s what Jesus did!