I’m a big believer in good manners.
I’m not sure who invented the concept, though I can say with some certainty it probably wasn’t cave men, whacking each other over the head with the bones of a snaggletoothed lizard or something like that. No, I’m not sure who invented the concept, but that person is a silent genius. The amount of expression and respect one can give in the smallest of gestures is nearly unfathomable. Some of greatest hits of good manners include;
Holding the door
Saying “God bless you” to a sneeze
Picking up a dropped item for someone
Walking diligently across the street when a car allows you to cross
These are some of my favorites, anyway. But the mother of all good manners is an adjunct reaction to all of these already good deeds, and it almost serves as an after-thought. It is the pinnacle of politeness. And it’s free and easy to do.
“Thank You”
Two words, not entirely difficult to purse together through the lips. You can even mouth them to the driver of the car who chose to stop and let you pass versus roar by you in their ten million pound Harley Davidson edition Lincoln Navigator (or their two pound Fiat 500 for that matter). That person doesn’t actually have to hear you say the words for it to be AWESOME!
The true gift is that it is so easy and free to give, but that a simple thank you can change a person’s day. The appreciation of their act will make them all warm and fuzzy inside. They will be glad they helped, and they will be eager to help again. People want to feel warm and fuzzy inside (especially if it’s snowing), so they will seek out opportunity to help others. The feeling is like a drug. A free, doesn’t ruin your teeth or your hair and you can still operate heavy machinery type of drug. And people like that kind of drug. And so they will hold open more doors, and say more “God bless yous”. It will be a worldwide phenomenon that will help change life as we know it. People will smile, which will make other people smile. Pretty soon people will be allowing others to merge on the freeway. And other people will say “No, after you. No, after YOU.” All will be right in the universe and the sun will shine and the moon will rise and the Cubs will win the World Series!!!!
And it all starts with a simple “Thank you”.
So…THANK YOU for reading my journal today!
Greg Morton 
buíochas a ghabháil leat
You are absolutely welcome!!! And THANK YOU for bringing some much needed culture to my site!!! I hope you have an amazing weekend!!!
My pleasure sir, thank you for the smile.
Being Southern born & bred, this is ingrained in my very nature. I practice good manners on a daily basis, especially thank you. Also equally important, in my opinion, is “You’re Welcome” & “Please”. I also believe in “I’m sorry” when it applies.
Great job, once again.
YOU ROCK my friend!
Dava
All excellent examples of the good manners….INDEED!!! I appreciate your love and support – THANK YOU!!! Hope you have a smiling good weekend!
Just to add to the cultural exchange – dioch yn fawr. 🙂
When my husband and I were in DC a few years ago we were at a nice dim sum restaurant for lunch the first day and the waiter came over towards the end of the meal. He said “we’ve all voted you our favourite customers – the other servers keep telling me ‘whenever I go over there they stop talking, look at me and say thank you!'”. I didn’t know what to say in response – except for “thank you” 😉 – as it’s not something we were intentionally doing, it was just reflex. I think it’s sad, in some ways, that they were looking upon that as an exception, not a rule.
This is a GREAT story!!! I agree that it is sad that people acknowledging the wait staff (something I always do) is rare and not the norm, however, I feel the staff acknowledging your politeness is a fun way to reaffirm your actions. It was a perfect example of my point, not only will you continue to do what you’ve always done, but the wait staff too will start to acknowledge great clients with their own “Thank You”. Win, Win!!
Thanks again for taking the time to visit my site and share a piece of your life with us!!! Have an AMAZING weekend!!!
I need to share a funny story about my mom and this topic. She is gone now, but was a funny, loving, upstanding, classy lady….except if she was holding the door open for you and you just breezed on by her, without the slightest acknowledgement. Then this spunky 100# dynamo would loudly (but with a smile) say “you’re welcome”! It’s one of my favorite “mom” memories.
Oh, and THANK YOU, Greg! 😉
Greg & Teresa, My mom (who is also no longer with us) used that same strategy! Wonder if it was something they were taught or what! Manners were always very important to my parents when we were growing up and I tried to instill them in my daughter, too. Hope it worked!
Danke ! you’re so right, it’s always a pleasure to read your journal
THANK YOU for this wonderful post! I write a blog about manners and treating others well and I have written about a few of the things you mentioned. I’m definitely reblogging this! 🙂
Awesome!!! Thank you very much for taking the time to read my work. I’m glad you liked this, and I really appreciate the reblog. Have a fantastic week!!!!
You’re welcome! And you too! 🙂
Reblogged this on Classy and True and commented:
I have yet to write about the use of “Thank You”, but this post from a fellow blogger sums it up perfectly!
Very true Greg! But sorry no Cubs this year:-(
Try teaching high school. Some students are shockingly bad mannered to say the least. I have a phrase that apparently has caught on. I tell them to stop being, “rude, crude, and uncivilized”. Now they say that to a fellow student who is behaving poorly.
Reblogged this on The Super Organizer Universe.
[…] include much about “thank you” in this post, but that is because I reblogged this post by Greg Morton in the last month and I think that he does a good job of explaining its […]