What Happened To Common Courtesy?

The words are simple. Please. Thank you. You are welcome. Excuse me. These are words we hardly ever hear at all when we are out in public. So much so that the words stand out when someone actually says them to us.

We work hard to teach our boys to have manners. We encourage them to say please. We encourage them to say thank you. We encourage them to say excuse me. It does not take much effort and it shows courtesy and respect. Or perhaps it does take a lot because no one says it when I hold the door open or when I ask for something and say please.

People will bump into us in an aisle as they try to forcibly pass by but will not say excuse me beforehand or apologize for bumping into us. I do not understand why manners have fallen to the wayside but they have. It makes it harder for us to teach our boys to be polite when the gesture is not reciprocated at all.

We encourage it because it is the right thing to do. We want our boys to be polite. We wish more parents would share the same belief as they would be polite and encourage their children to be the same. This would snowball and be a positive impact on a society that has lost its way. With technology there is less and less human interaction but the little we have should be respectful.