Growing up, my family instilled in me the importance of please and thank-you, and how important it is to mind my p's and q's. (No, I never learned what p's and q's stood for.) That is why it was so astounding to me when I was working as a waitress how rude some of the children I was waiting on were. I was even more upset that they're parents let their children say "Chicken fingers and a coke," when I introduced myself. But what could I expect? That's exactly what their parents said.
It was the rudeness of my customers and the demeanor of my managers that eventually lead me to quit. I specifically remember one morning I was woken up after a late shift and was asked to come in early because one of my coworkers called out. I agreed, knowing that I had an eight hour shift that afternoon, but I couldn't leave my manager hanging. I knew what I was getting into when I agreed to take the extra shift, but a "Hey, thanks for coming in on late notice," would have been nice.
Just last week, I was checking out at Walmart. After the cashier bagged my groceries, I said thank you, something I wouldn't have thought twice about doing before. She sighed and said, "No one has manners anymore. It's so sad." These are the words of someone who has been repeatedly disrespected in a thankless job. I understand that cashiers are not doctors, lawyers, or teachers. They don't (usually) change lives, but without them where would we be? More importantly, these people are people and deserve as much respect as anyone else simply because they're humans.
In recent months, there has been this nasty little video going around Facebook about how millennials are ruining the country. The video has received a lot of criticism from people from every generation. Ms. Bloomer accuses millennials of lots of things, one of which is being rude. While I understand that some millennials can be a bit impolite, let's not be ignorant. Anyone, from any generation, can be mannerless and assuming that someone is offensive based on their age is incredibly ignorant. (You can watch that video here.)
After leaving my job as a waitress, I started college, majoring in early childhood education. There are many things I hope to accomplish as a teacher. I want to empower my students and give them a good base for all their other academics. What is even more important to me is to help create strong and kind citizens that respect others, regardless of who they are. My goal is to teach children manners, at least the basics, because I've found that it's very difficult to live without them. It's not impossible, but without manners you can bet your bottom dollar your service won't be top notch.
