Polite Canada

Manners

Mind your Ps and Qs.

Use your Manners!

This was drilled into me as a child, and manners became habitual for me (Thank you, Mom!) and expected from others.

So why is it, then, that lately I feel I’m one of the only people out there who makes the effort – and really, manners are no effort at all – to be polite and considerate to people?

Canadians are known the world-over for being gracious, well mannered, and kind. We earned that reputation and our grandparents and parents drilled it into those of my generation, as I have done for my children. Somewhere along the way though, manners, for many, have taken a back seat as people don’t put the same emphasis on them as they once did. What is it that has changed? Both parents working, maybe? People immigrating from other countries where manners are not given the same importance?

That’s a cop-out, my friends.

Manners are not rocket science.

If you teach your children from the cradle to say please, thank you, you’re welcome, to share, and to be otherwise courteous to people, you’re raising a socially responsible child who will become a socially responsible adult. Perhaps one who doesn’t have a pompous air of self-entitlement radiating from them. Perhaps one who has some class, and will be socially acceptable wherever they choose to go in this life.

Crazy fact? Money does not buy class. Class is shown by your actions, and how you behave and conduct yourself in society. It is not in clothing, in the car that you drive, or how many zeros you have in your bank account.

Class means having manners. Class means holding the door open for someone coming through behind you, or who may need some assistance getting out. Class is allowing that driver with the blinking turn signal in the next lane to move into yours. Class is thanking the person who waved you into the lane in front of them, with a friendly wave (that they can actually see).

Let’s show the rest of the world that we Canadians have class. Show it in every action you take, and every interaction with strangers that you make.

Let’s make everyone just a little happier, just by sharing a smile, a wave, and a common courtesy.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Your Name *

Your Email Address*

A Link to Your Website

Comment

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a class="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>