Courteous Behavior

I wrote an article on the blog before titled “Practicing  Everyday Etiquette”.  I want to make a few more comments on this topic.  What do you think when you hear the word etiquette or manners?   Do you think of dining manners?  Is this the only place you relate these two words?  As I mentioned before, etiquette and manners go way beyond the dining skills.

Lack Of Common Courtesy

I’m constantly amazed at people’s lack of common courtesy.  I’m not talking about someone’s lack of very polished dining skills.  I’m just talking about what most people consider being courteous of another person.  I was out of state last week and experienced a situation that baffled me.  My daughter and I were walking to her car which was parked in a large lot at a store.  The person parked next to her was loading his truck as we were approaching my daughter’s car.  The person clearly saw us and saw us arrive at my daughter’s car.  This person left their shopping cart right behind my daughter’s car.  There was no way she could back up her car without running right into the cart!  My daughter and I both looked at each other and couldn’t believe what we had just seen.  While the driver of the truck was backing out of his space, my daughter and I commented that the other person was extremely rude.  We just looked at the other driver with surprise.

After he backed out, he then got out of his truck, shoved his cart away from our car, and drove off not looking back.  What he didn’t realize or care about was the cart then started rolling towards my daughter’s car.  Had she not reacted quickly, the cart would have slammed right into the side of her car.  We still stood there shocked at this person’s inconsiderate behavior.

Conclusion

Etiquette and manners extend outside of the dining room.  They are a part of all aspects of daily life as I mentioned earlier.  They affect our interactions with others in  any shopping situation, anytime we send an e-mail whether it’s to a friend or a business associate,  whenever we are on the telephone land line or cell, to registering a complaint.  How you conduct yourself determines how someone will respond to you.

Think about an experience you’ve had that  might be similar to the one my daughter and I experienced last week.  What did you think?  Were you being courteous and someone else wasn’t?  Could your experience have been avoided, and if so,  how could it?  I welcome any comments which you would like to share.

Questions or comments are always appreciated.

Ginny Brown
The Etiquette School of Northeast Georgia
Hoschton, Georgia (Hamilton Mill area, Dacula, GA)
Email Ginny Brown
678-889-4814 office
770-296-4159 cell

http://etiquette-blog.com