Common Courtesy | Pad Patter 3.21

Jan, I agree with the ones you have already shared.
I cannot think of any others but if anything comes to mind I will return and share.

 

Mine too! My parents and grandparents were very old-school about men and hats.

On the bus or subway: offering your seat to someone who might need it more (a parent struggling with a small child; an elderly person; an expectant mother...). This doesn't seem as common as it once was, which is a real pity.

 

Growing up in Pittsburgh, we had what was know as "the Pittsburgh Left." If someone driving the opposite direction wanted to turn left, you always left them go before you went. Every time! But it seems that no one else in the country knows about this courtesy.

Also, in a construction zone there were signs that say, "Stay in lane until merge point, then take your turn." But in the South where I now live there's a sign that says, "Lane closed in 3 miles" and everyone merges 3 miles before you need to. And if you try to drive in the other lane until the merge point, drivers will actually pull out in front of you to stop you.

I miss the courteous drivers of Pittsburgh.

 

YES! Common courtesy seems to be gone just like common sense!

 

agree

 

I grew up with the male hats off indoors policy. I told my grandson and he thought I was nuts, but since he is a sweetheart, took off his cap.

I will try to hold the door for anyone but many males feel uncomfortable when I do so ... “no, you go ahead, I’ll get it,”

My husband usually holds the car door open for me when he is driving, yet I never return the favor. Hmmmm?

A new courtesy involves elevator sharing. We were at the hospital the other day and my husband asked the three people already on the elevator if it was ok for us to ride.

 

I used to hate this when my kids were small, and clearly struggling to find a place to hold on, and rows of teens and adults would just sit there. I always my girls once they were tall enough to hold the hand bar, it was up to them to offer others a seat.

In my Brownie unit, we use jump rope to teach manners. We talk about how these rules help us avoid conflict and makes Brownies a place that everyone wants to be. The girls think they are learning a fun game, but really we want them to (1) decide beforehand how turns will work to be the girls on the end, turning the rope (2) wait in a line - an actual line, not just standing around, for your turn. This way everyone knows who's next. (3)When someone else is jumping, you sing the rhyme. When she's done - she goes back in line and sings for you. Reciprocity - what goes around comes around!

I don't ever remember anyone teaching me any of this, but then again, my school principal didn't ban skipping ropes and balls either.

 

Men used to ALWAYS hold the door open for women, not as much nowadays (but some still do).
Another courtesy we had at church potlucks when I was growing up, was letting the older people go first. We got in big trouble if we didn’t. But now - it seems like kids get to go first because they aren’t patient enough to wait. Oh well, I shall be courteous and not say anything.

 

No lights involved. Just drivers being courteous. There’s usually a turn lane involved. Or maybe just someone trying to turn into out out off a driveway or a business.

 

I am totally with you on that!!! I do so many things for others and rarely even get an acknowledgement, let alone a "thank you"

 

PREACH!!
I work remotely and have done for 6 years. As a project manager I get demands all day long and my day starts with a barrage of messages. I am 5hrs behind my main team. So I had to send a company wide message to say, show some manners. IF you are sending me a message for me to wake up to, say 'Good Morning' before you launch into the massive message.
Just a basic lack of courtesy! Manners are a dying breed, saying please, thank you, how are you, excuse me, good morning, good night. All seem to be things that people rarely do.

 

Yes to all the things mentioned... THANK YOU goes a long ways!

Also, why can't some dog owners keep them on their leases and clean up their messes. Not everyone loves dogs and even if they do, they don't want to have to clean up after someone else's dog or have it jump up on them. We don't have a dog right now but I'm always having to clean up dog poop that's left in our yard.

Another is parents who don't keep track of their kids in public and let them destroy things and be rude to others. Children need to be taught respect and common courtesy. I blame the parents when kids are being rude and the parents just sit there and let it happen.

 

The thing I notice and ALWAYS comment on (so my kids hear me saying it) is when we go through a drive thru or even go in (when we used to do that) and someone at the counter at a fast food restaurant just stares at you. Most don't even say "May I help you?". SO rude. When the people at the drive thru are courteous, I always comment on it to my kids and say how nice it is to hear someone with manners. I always say thank you to them and it's pretty rare to hear them even acknowledge it or say you're welcome back. It's such a simple thing, but is so easy and so nice!

 

I live in Finland, here people take their shoes off before get into the house, but there's people that simply step with shoes, which is a total lacking of respect, my husband uses to judge my friends based on whether or not they took their shoes off when they came in our house. Usually people is polite in the countryside, but not in Helsinki, there people are the most impolite that I have seeing in my whole life, they can even walk over you and never say sorry, and if you protest things can end up really bad, because people are really aggressive.

 

COURTESY FLUSH!