Mind Your Manners
It has come to my attention that there are a lot of people out there complaining about the lack of manners in present day society. Of course, there are a lot of people complaining about a lot of things. I doubt anybody would dispute that. There’s a whole lot of complaining going on, no question, but here’s my take on all those complaints about manners. I’m not seeing it. As I negotiate my way through the many human interactions of daily life, I find that almost without exception, the people whose paths I cross are unfailingly polite. I’m of the belief that it is those extremely rare exceptions that skew our perspective. They stand out. When someone acts like a jerk, it’s upsetting and has us thinking that the world is becoming more and more ill-mannered with every passing day. I’m just not buying it.
There can be no question that manners are an integral part of our repertoire of social skills. As for me, I have always taken pride in the fact that I make every effort to use good manners in all situations. Granted, that’s not always easy, and I’m sure I’ve slipped up more than once, but I never stop trying. I even make the effort to be polite when I encounter occasional rudeness. The grocery store cashier I ran up against last year springs to mind.
The cashier in question was a tall and lanky young man with a peculiar hairstyle that resembled a palm tree. He had rung up all of my items and accepted my cash payment when he looked in his register drawer and suddenly paused. He then informed me that he was all out of bills and could he give me my change, and there was quite a bit, in coins – all of it. That amounted to far more coins than I could possibly fit in my wallet. I declined the offer and suggested that he give me back the cash so that I could process the transaction using a bank card. He said that wasn’t possible and then just stood there.
When I realized he was trying to force my hand and get me to take all of those coins, I calmly and politely stated that surely someone in the store, like perhaps the manager, could be called to bring him some ones and fives. He responded with a long, exaggerated eye roll and a loud, heavy sigh. It was very theatrical. You would have thought that I had asked him to go out to the parking lot and rotate the tires on my car. He was really put out and letting me know it. The look on his face was cold as ice as he finally turned and picked up the microphone to call his manager, his eyes locked on me in a hard stare the whole time. She was there in a heartbeat and resolved the problem in all of about two minutes.
I could’ve let that get to me, but it really wasn’t all that bad so I chose not to. I remained calm and polite, stood my ground, and got my way. And besides, those situations are very few and far between. I believe most of us are trying to mind our manners, and if you’re reluctant to agree, take heart. There are still plenty of things in life to complain about. They’re not hard to find. That’ll never be a problem.