Manners do not cost a penny!!!

Perhaps it is just me getting old and miserable{although I like to think that the latter is not so) but what has happened to good manners?
When I was a kid if I did not say “please and thank you” at the appropriate times, I would get a swift clip round the ear from my father, and although I may not have liked it at the time it did make me remember my manners.
It seems nowadays that these simple words no longer exist in some peoples vocabalary.
I work within the public sector , and in one day can actually serve anything up to 150 people. I like to think that I am always cheerful, polite and helpful doing the best that I can to give customer satisfaction. We all have “off” days, but even so I try to mask that and carry on as usual. So what is it with some people?. You greet them with a smile, response - nothing, you try to converse with them, response - grunts, and then when you have finished what was requested of you and you say “thank you” or goodbye they turn on there heels without so much as a murmur.
I was also taught that good manners don’t cost a penny and I agree with that, so why is it that so many people do not seem capable of those simple words.
Now woe betide if you happen to say “no” or cannot for some reason do as they request, suddenly there mouth’s open wide and a tirade of the most disgusting language pours out!!!. Don’t get me wrong, I am no prude and am guilty of the odd outburst myself, but there is a time and place for it and I don’t think that it is in public, especially when the person it it directed to is either doing their job, or trying there best to help but is truly unable to rectify the matter.
Come on all you who work in the public sector, tell us your stories, and maybe we can put our heads together and think of a way to beat these ill mannered people at their own game without actually behaving in the same unacceptable manner as they do.

Add comment October 4th, 2007