Is Common Courtesy Dead?

Unfortunately, we are now seeing a 2rd generation coming up that received no home training of things like manners, courtesy, respect, etc... It gets progressively worse. Not so in my house. One hope I have for my children is that the bar has been lowered so much in our society that they shall shine like stars in their generation because they have simple social skills that their contemporaries don not possess.
 
yes it died just after the death of parenting....

best

mqqn
 
It's not just courtesy, these are dead in 2013 USA, too:

* common sense
* accountability
* independence (replaced by dependency)
* discipline
* local charity (replaced by "forced" contributions to national bureacracies)
* tolerance (replaced by forced political correctness)

Oh boy, got on a soapbox pretty quick.

Stepping down now.
 
What really burns me is (I work in retail) the customer that comes in with all guns blazing. That is fine and well, but when I then make it very clear that intend todo everything in my power to make things right and will do so immediately, and they continue to insult, needle, blame, lament, swear, etc.

You catch more flies with honey (especially when you are the one that made the mistake).

Common courtesy is to ask for help politely, and yes, that is getting quite rare these days. Somewhere along the lines people were taught that if a squeaking wheel gets grease, one that screams and swears must surely win the lottery. Unfortunately, some decent people on the receiving end of this caustic behavior reinforce it by *attempting* exceptional customer service.
 
Sometimes I will reply to 4-5 emails and spend two or three days answering questions about a $150.00 knife and when I send them the total with shipping, they fall off the face of the earth.
 
Common Courtesy is a thing of the past. Sure, you'll still find little snippets here and there but for the most part its lost. I routinely see people not hold doors for others, not say thank you when the door is held for them, butt in line, have no consideration for other people's time or property, throw trash out on parking lots and streets, get rude and insulting to service representatives that are only doing their jobs, not say please, not say thank you...etc..etc.. I could go on and on!! The old adage that the customer is always rights is BS in my opinion and has given people the mindset that they can bitch, moan, complain, insult, threaten and just be all around obnoxious and they will get what they want because THEY are always right. Where I work, we've politely sent customers away stating we felt it was in our best interest and theirs that we part ways without doing business with each other. That usually leaves a stunned look of disbelief on their face as they leave. Hopefully it's a learning lesson for them but I doubt it... end of my rant for now:D
 
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Baloney. Every generation complains that the courtesies of the last generation have disappeared. There are, as always, courteous folk and folk who are out for only themselves. It's pretty much always been this way.
 
I was raised by my father that every woman I met was to be called ma'am unless otherwise told not to. To this day I call every woman I meet ma'am even when running threw the drive thru at Wendys I say ma'am.
One other thing I noticed is when I open the car door for my wife it never fails I get weird looks from other women. It almost seems to me like they are offended that I open the door for my wife. I don't get why someone would be offended but my wife likes it and my father "taught you well boy".

I also think Mr. Lava_Lamp said it a whole lot better than I could.
 
sbakker said:
Baloney. Every generation complains that the courtesies of the last generation have disappeared. There are, as always, courteous folk and folk who are out for only themselves. It's pretty much always been this way.
Click to expand...

Really?

I'm not in a position to doubt you because I'm only 41, and I have only experienced a handful of generations.

I can tell you that in my limited experience that there HAS been a change in retail consumer behavior in the last 20 years...and that change certainly seems consistent with courtesy (or lack of).
 
Lots of people today, if there is not instant gratification, instant success, instant fun they don't want anything to do with it.
When I was a teenager and was over a friends house I would always say hello to the parents , talk to-them maybe even sit down and chat.
My sons friends won't even make eye contact with me or say hello, I don't get it?
 
Common courtesy, deliberate respect are not dead,and will not
die so long as someof us are willing to lead by example.
 
What is common courtesy?


All kidding aside, people of my generation really disappoint me.
 
Society is in a state of decay, sadly. To make matters worse, we are in the age of Kali; quarrel and hypocrisy. Buckle in.
 
I think so. It's sad, but it's quite true. We can blame parenting, society, etc the list goes on and on, and the reality is it's all of it.

The other day I was in the movie theater, there was a little kid that sat two seats away from me. He looked about 3 or 4, and he was just being obnoxious and loud getting in and out of his seat. The parents just let the kid go do his thing. There were some quiet parts of the movie where I couldn't hear because of the kid. When I was a kid, if I had acted out like that, my mom would have smacked me and told me to sit down and be quiet. Sure the kid is young, but if they aren't disciplined young, then when will they listen? There are too many parents who don't know how to be parents.

A few weeks ago, I had to deal with some really obnoxious customers at the restaurant where I work. They came in like we owed them something, complained about this and that and at the end one of them left without paying. My manager told me to not go out and chase after them because it'll be a waste of my time and effort. Worst part? The one who left had a kid with her, now the kid is going to learn from her mother that you can get free stuff by behaving like trash.

I do see a few good eggs from time to time, but the rotten ones just outnumber the good ones all the time. It's sad. Not enough good examples floating around.
 
Sorry to hear you've had some trouble, John

About all I can say to make up for it is that if it was completely dead we wouldn't be able to see when it's missing.
 
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