ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

Courtesy Dies in Public...

Updated on August 5, 2011

Once again another human principle has died. Along with Valor, Integrity, Brotherhood, Camaraderie, Chivalry, The Golden Rule, and a host of others, they all have died. And Courtesy has left us too, to join her family in Principle Heaven.

We know she’s passed on. It is evident she‘s gone. No matter where you go, everyone seems to be so rude. No longer does counter workers say, “May I help you? Instead you will get, “What?” No one even says “Please.” It doesn’t matter if you are at the deli or the bank; people look at you like they’re doing you a favor for your business, and the last thing they say is, “Thank you” and mean it. The problem is no one knows how to be courteous anymore. The proof she’s dead.

It is apparent her death went unnoticed. For my generation Courtesy was always expected, taking for granted she would always be here. But it seems this generation didn’t see how important she was. They think she was like the china you save and use for special occasions, and treated her that way. They believe to be courteous meant; it is a special privilege you use to bestow only a chosen few, but not a concession for the rest of us. Some people think because they are being paid a low wage, they don’t have to go out of their way to be nice or courteous. They take the attitude of, “I’m not being paid to be nice” and they’ re not. Letting Courtesy down.

Attitudes like those make me not frequent a shop often, or come back in the future when Courtesy is not there. When sales are down, the owners of these establishments should take a look at their books, and then take a lesson from Confucius who said, “Man who cannot smile, should never open a store” and he was one hundred percent correct. He too was a friend with Courtesy.

When employers trained their employees, Courtesy 101 gets left out of the equation. I could bet, she is mentioned, but not stressed upon how their attitudes are a reflection of their business, and if it suffers, they suffer. No one takes that position, and you wonder why she has passed away? But for those who own shops and who have workers who have to deal with us, the public, want to know, how much energy does it take for your workers to be courteous? Did you ever stop to think that by using a little Courtesy it could make you a little richer?

No patron wants to be greeted by a worker with an attitude or with a sour puss on his or her face. But with smiles and a feeling of being welcomed and their business is being appreciated. After all, there are many more stores available selling exactly what you have to offer, so the odds of you being exclusive is quite slim. And even if you are exclusive, that doesn’t give anyone the right to treat customers in a less than respectful, courteous manner. She would not have wanted it that way.

You don’t have to like your customers, or even agree with how they are dressed, but to have any customers these days that spend any amount of money with you, consider it a blessing, and you need to see it as such. There are many long established businesses going out of business every day and without Courtesy, they wouldn’t have had the longevity they’ve enjoyed.

So if you’re a smart business owner, treat your customers with respect and keep her memory alive. Without Courtesy, your business is doomed. And for you employees, don’t wind up as a statistics on the unemployment line because of your less than courteous attitude. A smile is worth a million bucks and a great attitude brings you a promotion and a raise. If you are incapable of going out your way to be a polite, decent, human being to strangers as part of your duties, then you can’t complain when you find yourself out of a job.

So here is a word to the wise. Say a prayer for Courtesy and remember what she stood for, and maybe we can help save the future of her other siblings, Politeness, Good Manners, Civility, and we can’t forget her favorite, Consideration. Because without them, the world’s society will be Hopeless, and Courtesy’s presence will be a thing of the past.

May she rest in peace…

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)