I was recently at the grocery store where I was patiently waiting in line at the meat and seafood counter to place my order. It was Saturday just before dinner time so you can imagine everyone was there for the last-minute-oh-crap-we-don’t-have-anything-to-eat rush. The workers behind the counter remained pleasant and helpful, answering questions of place of origin for the fish and how to grill some cuts of meat.
Enter a gaggle of college boys pushing their way to the front. They started barking their orders to the butchers. They were painfully boisterous and obnoxious. Frankly, I was embarrassed for them, though they didn’t pay any attention. I did chime in when they butt in to interrupt my order. I scolded them in a manner that would have made Amy Duncan proud. They rolled their eyes. My eyes pierced through them until they went quiet. When I finished they carried on barking on top of each other and yelling their orders for a burger and a pound of chicken wings and this and that, hardly a breath exhaled between them.
No one said please. No one said thank you. No one made eye contact.
They demanded their orders, grabbed their plastic wrapped packages and rushed off. Somewhere their mothers are horrified at this behavior. We all try our damnedest to teach our children good manners, reminding them from a young age to say please and thank you, some of us even teaching our children to sign please and thank you while they are perched safely in a highchair.
Both good manners and bad manners get you noticed. These boys were the subject of my dinner table rant. Wouldn’t you rather be lauded and hailed as dinner table fodder for something positive? Good manners transcend our various lots in life; anyone can be kind, polite, and considerate. Good manners are the foundation of social currency. Good manners matter.