MANNERS COST NOTHING!

Ok so life is hectic, everyone is busy, everyone has deadlines to meet, appointments to attend, the list goes on, but why and when did it suddenly become the norm to have no time for good manners?

I was brought up to ‘treat others how I would like to be treated’ to ‘answer politely when spoken to’ to always say “please / thank you /  you’re welcome” etc.  At some point in todays rat race, it has sadly become acceptable for people to ignore good manners altogether.  Well I for one think it’s a disgrace, people with no manners should be ashamed, its nothing short of down right rude!

When time costs money and money makes the world go round, I put it to you that human kindness and good manners not only cost nothing but will make our world a better place.

Let me tell you a short story of such kindness and good manners that made a dear friend of mine feel instantly better and somewhat valued again.

A little over a month ago a close friend of mine moved house.  During the stressful period of selling her own property and moving into the new property her boss of almost 10 years announced by email that her services at the company were no longer required.  With one month notice and the most basic redundancy package, Sarah was now about to move into a new home without so much as a ‘thank you’ from her boss.

Amidst the chaos of late removal men, heavy boxes and ungrateful teenage children, Sarah and her husband collected the keys to their new home and focussed on the job in hand.  Upon arrival at their new home, Sarah opened the door to see a huge bouquet of flowers and a lovely card signed by all the staff at their agents office.  This well-wishing kind gesture, thanking them for using their services, reminded Sarah that not everyone in the world is ignorant. Thankfully there are still a few people who value good manners and good customer service.  Naturally Sarah took 5 minutes out of her frantic day to contact the agent and thank them.  This was truly a gesture she did not expect and was very appreciative of. 

One month later Sarah received a call from her Estate Agent.  Knowing that she had thanked them for the kind gesture, and paid them for their service her mind raced as to why the agent would be contacting her again.  The agent, clearly one with pride and good manners, was looking for some feedback about the quality of service she had received. Thinking back to the events leading up to moving day and then the actual day itself Sarah gave a sigh of relief and responded ‘You brought a smile to my face and a warmth to my heart. I would highly recommend you to anyone’. 

That act of kindness and good manners from the agent transformed an incredibly stressful time into one of joy.  An event that Sarah and her family will never forget.

So the next time you have the opportunity to do something so simple and so easy, please do it, your kindness and good manners have a stronger effect than you may know!

Its nice to be nice and good manners cost nothing.  Lets make the world a better place, one good gesture at a time!

Alex Evans

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