Case in point. A young artist, Taylor Swift arrives on stage at the VMA’s to accept her award and thank her fans only to be interrupted by another artist claiming Beyonce had the best album of last year. I’m glad Beyonce had the class to call Taylor up and allow her to finish her thank you speech.
Holding the door open for the people behind you. Is it really that hard? Especially when you see a mother with kids and her hands are full. Or what about an elderly individual or someone with special needs? A few weeks ago, I held the door open for a student on crutches…twice! I didn’t get so much as a “thank you” or even a smile.
The other day, we were visiting with a friend. My daughter had demanded a drink and when I didn’t hear her, she yells “can you hear me? I want a drink of juice!” You can imagine how that went over.
How did we get to this point? I know I will be more conscious of teaching my kids proper manners. There needs to be more selfless acts of kindness and I don’t think holding a door open for someone or saying “please” and “thank-you” is really too much to ask. Do you?
The hardest job kids face today is learning good manners without seeing any. ~ Fred Astaire
Good manners can replace morals. It may be years before anyone knows if what you are doing is right. But if what you are doing is nice, it will be immediately evident. ~P.J. O’Rourke
