Whatever happened to common courtesy and treating your fellow man with respect?
About two weeks ago I was walking through an airport terminal trying to locate where my connecting flight was when a hurried women walking off the moving walkway fumed by me and stammered, “Move!” I guess excuse me isn’t used anymore?
Throughout my week, all too often, I see people who do not acknowledge or appreciate the simple mannerly deeds that others carry out for them.
Whenever a person is generous to open a door for me, I always make it a point to express my gratitude with a smile and a simple thank you. Nowadays, in today’s crazy rushed society, a simple thank you is hard to find. If we decide to let a person into traffic, don’t we all deserve a courtesy wave?
I often wondered what makes one person hold the door for the person behind them, give that courtesy wave, or smile and say thank you while the next person doesn’t.
Is it the way we were raised, the influences of the people we decided to surround ourselves with, or is it simply that our lives have become so overbearing that it just doesn’t cross a person’s mind to do so? Regardless, that is a topic for another day.
The lesson we should all take from our experiences is to try not to judge a person on one bad experience.
For all I know, the lady at the airport who rudely muttered “move” may have been in a car accident on her way to the airport and decided to take it out on me.
With that, the next time somebody let’s you into traffic or holds the door for you, don’t forget to express your gratitude, no matter how small the deed.
Let’s not let another person’s good deed go unnoticed. It will make for a better community and society as a whole.
Philip Chu
