Manners – do we really need them?

What are they? Some people say “please” when they ask for something and “thank you” when it’s given to them to show that they’re grateful. They’re being polite, they don’t  interrupt when people are talking, they respect the personal space of others.

Manners are really an agreement between people. We agree to show the other person respect and treat them a certain way, and we hope to get the same respect and treatment back from them.

Some people reject the idea of manners because they think someone told them how they have to behave and they don’t want anyone telling them what to do. But when we all agree on a basic set of standards, it just makes things between people happen better.

When we have the manners agreed upon by our culture, we show people we want to be part of that culture, we want to be part of that group. Manners raise us up above being a basic animal, like my cat who lies all over my desk when I’m trying to work!

Acting with good manners also shows we have self-respect. We’re behaving with dignity and that’s pretty cool for anyone. When you show good manners you’re respecting the other person, but you’re also respecting yourself.

Perhaps  because of Covid, we minimized how important it is to be able to “play in the sandbox with others” but considering how many lonely and isolated people there are in this world and how many people are feeling alone, it would be happier for the world to add respect and manners so everyone could feel more included and even welcome.

What do you think?