Common Courtesy
Please. Thank you. Excuse me.
Holding the door for someone. Letting the person with one item ahead of you in line since you have a cart full of items. Helping pick up dropped items.
It appears they were tossed out with customer service.
You remember customer service, right? I know. It’s been a while since I have had good customer service as well. But that isn’t the soapbox I’m stepping on tonight.
When I was growing up, saying “thank you”, “please”, “yes ma’am”, “no sir” were not optional phrases. It was required or I was reminded why it was so important to be polite and respectful. I am raising my children to be polite and respectful. I believe that it should be the norm; not the exception. My children are not perfect and they fall short just like I do. They try. They do a fabulous job. And I forget that common courtesy is fading away.
Today, we were at the Laundromat washing Mt. Laundry while playing a bit of Rummy. I am sitting facing the window to the parking lot. I see a grandmother type lady loading a laundry cart with her dirty laundry. I see that she is heading to the door and it is going to be awkward to get the cart in the door. I had three of the kiddos with me and they had their backs to the door. I told Mary to run open the door. She jumped up and ran to hold the door for the lady.
Now, Mary’s opening the door is not the focus here. The lady’s face is the focus. I so wish I could have captured it with my camera. It was so cold today; the wind had a definite bite. She was bundle up, walking slow and looked, well, blah. She was just trudging along with no joy in her face.
Then Mary opened the door. You would have thought someone handed her a bag of diamonds or a bar of chocolate. Yes, I think chocolate is that good. Her whole face lit up and she had the most joyful smile. She looked around at Mary and said thank you and then came over to me and went on and on about how nice it was of Mary to open the door for her. She asked me about Sam who was in the wrap and talked about how precious he was. I agreed, of course. Every time we passed while checking our laundry, we shared a smile.
When was the last time someone had held a door for her? Or helped her with a heavy load?
We come and go; too busy to see those we are passing on the way. Such a simple thing. To say thank you. To hold a door. To offer a smile.
Romans 13:8-9
8 Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. 9 For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,”
“You shall not bear false witness,”[a] “You shall not covet,”[b] and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”[c]
amen….Jack got a smile and a “thank you sir!” for holding the door open for someone today. Nothing like making people smile!
This is a great post! I really enjoyed reading it.
Oh I’m so glad you were there so Mary could open the door for her. :::)
Yay, Mary! You are right, courtesy is out the window. When we are in a waiting room, etc my boys have been taught to give up their seat for an adult, especially a lady or an elderly adult. It’s amazing how many people think this is such a big deal. No one does that anymore.