As a cashier, I see many people come and go throughout a shift. Some of these people are friendly, polite and well mannered. But, on the other hand, there are also many people who are not so well mannered.
From a young age, most of us are taught the basics of manners and how to be polite. From what I see as a cashier it does not feel like people are still teaching or enforcing the use of manners. It is not only the teenagers and children that don't use the best of manners, it is also the adults.
I find myself in countless situations where I try to be polite but get very little use of manners in return. It is shocking to see people act this way and hard to not tell them to be more polite. Using manners is not a hard thing to do.
When people come up to the register I usually great them with a simple, "hello, how are you?" You would be surprised to see how many people don't answer. Some people don't even say hello. It is extremely irritating when people just walk up and tell you what kind of cigarettes they want or ask to type in their phone number for discounts without even saying hello.
There are also the people who cannot put down their phone for two seconds while you ring them out, and the people who always seem to be in a rush and get irritated when you try to say anything to them. Being kind to one another is a basic duty that people owe each other. One would think that everybody would have the decency to treat the person they are talking to in a polite manner.
The sad truth is that not everyone is going to act this way. I see more and more people each day, inside and outside of work, forget where they left their manners. You want to believe that maybe they were not taught or maybe they are just having a bad day, even though that is no excuse to not be polite.
On a more positive note there are still people out there that are always polite and use proper manners. It always makes me happy when the young children come up to the register and use their Please's and Thank You's. Hopefully their peers pick up on these small acts that are easy to do. There are also some adults out there that could take some notes from these kids.
The world is a much better place when everyone is polite and treats each other with respect. Even when you are having a bad day it is not hard to stick to the basics. Remember how that saying goes, treat people the way you want to be treated. If you are polite to others they will be polite to you. If you do not use your manners when talking to someone, don't expect them to always be polite to you.
