People just do not regard manners anymore! I remember those days when my mom would insist on us using the word, ‘please’, when asking for anything. She even went as far as telling my brothers and I to demand for her to say ‘please’ when she wanted us to do something for her; and reserve the right not to oblige if the word ‘please’ was missing! That strong sense of politeness is fast leaving our society. Some folks even think it absurd to apologise for bumping into another person. As unintentional as it may be, an apology will not cost much; it not only shows good breeding and courtesy, it would help teach our children politeness without having to say so many words.
I meet educated and elderly people who expect others to punctuate every word said to them with ‘sir’ and ‘ma’, yet they themselves refuse to exhibit the common courtesy of saying ‘thank you’ when you do them a favour. It leaves one wondering what kind of children they would have raised, and that is just plain sad!
We need to consciously develop the habit of speaking to others respectfully and in a polite manner: Say ‘please’, ‘sorry’ and ‘thank you’ as appropriate; not be rude, even when dealing with the people you consider lower in cadre to you. If we truly understood that we are all equal before God, we would not create such a fuss out of treating our fellow human beings with courtesy and decency.
The most important lesson our society needs to learn is perhaps that of good manners. When the lesson is learnt and the values are imbibed, it would only be natural for our children to simply see the way to go about and turn out truly home-trained.
