Are Good Manners a thing of the past?

[Nibble]

There is a chap in the New England Siansbury's on the till who has a flaky scalp, chewed fingernails, a big spotty red nose and bogeys falling out of his nostrils. Politest man you could hope to meet. It's a mad, mad, mad, mad,mad,mad, mad, mad, mad mad,mad, mad,mad,mad, mad world.

 

[Sweeney Todd]

I reckon that if I can get into bed, and turn out the light, having been on the receiving end of fewer than five instances of rudeness or ignorance or indifference then I’ve had a good day.

 

[Giraffe]

Pssst........see your signature

Ooh slap for me, I shall attend to it shortly!

 

[Marty McFly]

I can't stand when people order things at restaurants etc witht he phrase "CAn I get....." rather than "please may I have..." or similar. I've noticed it even in pubs. Rathan than "Pint of harveys please landlord" its "Can I get a Harveys"

I would love the repsonse to be "No you can't get one, you can ask me to serve you one though".

Over here the normal seems to be 'Get me...' - winds me up every time!

 

[tinx]

Over here the normal seems to be 'Get me...' - winds me up every time!

Thats even worse than "can I get..." its demanding rather than asking.

 

[Marty McFly]

Thats even worse than "can I get..." its demanding rather than asking.

Yep. Normally followed by the customer chucking their money on the counter, rather than actually handing it to me. Still maintain my please and thankyous though!

 

[Marty McFly]

Also... Didn't hear/understand what someone said? It's 'pardon' not 'what'

 

[Bakero]

As someone mentioned before, move abroad then return to England and you'll be impressed by the overwhelming everyday politeness.

For better or for worse, we're right up there in the international politeness table. I'm surprised that no one's blamed the perceived decline in standards on foreigners.







edit: I should add that standards of politeness are relatives. Rude foreigners being rude in their country isn't necessarily rude, just different.

 

[Spicy]

So, during a transaction which presents just one opportunity to say please (that'll be X pounds please, thank you) and possibly not even that if you use a card before being asked (would you... oh, ok... Thank you), I'm intrigued as to what you were expecting.

Having not met that expectation, you respond by being extremely patronising. Dead f*cking polite. The till assistant when crimson, embarrassed by how rude some customers are.

I'm assuming of course your patronising comment was on the back of repeated efforts to engage the cashier in friendly conversation. You'd already asked how their day was, apologised for the heavy box of beers they'd had to man-handle over the scanner, thanked them for facilitating your shopping experience late in the evening or at the weekend so that it was convenient for you.

Manners go both ways during that transaction and in my experience most customers (and I'm guilty of doing it myself at times) ignore the cashier completely and are equally if not more guilty of disrespect.

Take a deep breath and relax!

 

[BensGrandad]

The 2 worst examples I know of nowadays us that when as a child I was told to give up my seat on a bus ir train to an older person but it. seems that the attitude of parents is I have paid for a seat so junior will sit in it irespective. The other annoying thing is people talking on a mobile phone when at a checkout or payment area if a shop, I always say I am at the chdck out now either hold on a minute or I will call you back.