The Decline of Good Manners

Yesterday afternoon, I was walking with my family in the city centre and my son politely asked if he could have an ice cream. As he had used good manners, and we happened to be walking past a McDonald’s, I said, “Why not? Let’s all go have an ice cream”.

...

Staff Manners

After a couple of minutes, I got to the head of the line. A new cashier came to serve us, a young lady, maybe in her early 20s. On the front of the till there was a picture of what we now know to be Loaded Fries (http://www.frugalfeeds.com.au/2015/news-mcdonalds-new-loaded-fries-starts-dec-2/). My wife, whose first language is not English, innocently asked how much they were. The cashier replied, “How much is what?”. My wife pointed at the picture. The cashier replied, “I can’t see there. What are they?”. So I jumped in not knowing what they were but tried to describe them.

...

Finally, I ordered three ice cream cones which came to a total of $1.50. We gave her $2.00 and she gave us change of $1.00, 50c too much. Normally I would always return extra change, but she had been quite rude and had walked away immediately, so I just kept it. I thought of it as a small bonus for putting up with poor service.

Customers’ Manners

Warning: Some graphic language was used by the customers, so please don’t listen if you are easily offended.

While we we waiting for our ice cream, we could overhear a lady at the front talking to the cashier. She raised her voice and said something to the effect of, “How long do I have to fucking wait?! Get your arse moving and get my Big Mac!”. I thought it was a bit unnecessary, as I saw the staff member race off to see if the Big Mac was on its way. The rest of us had been waiting longer than her (literally only two or three minutes), so I don’t see why she thought she needed her hamburger quicker than everybody else. The staff obliged and gave her the Big Mac, probably just to shut her up.

...

Later on, my son went outside to play on the climbing equipment. They had recently renovated and had added a huge new climbing apparatus. Heaps of kids were out there playing and I again saw the 10 year old girl who had ordered the happy meal. She was demanding that a boy “Get off the bloody slide, or I’ll fucking hit you! Know your place, bitch!”. I was again shocked. How has this girl been raised? Why don’t her parents teach her proper manners?

Good Manners

Good manners are easy, but children will not learn them unless their parents teach them. Obviously, something is going wrong in our society where kids are growing up demanding food instead of asking politely. When I was young, if I spoke to an adult like that, I’m sure they would have at the very least yelled at me, if not worse. My parent’s generation would have def ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dw9IIZiVPQg