As a preschool teacher, part of my job is teaching manners. We sing the above song at Thanksgiving, and sit in a circle passing around toy peas. Then we make manners fun by singing the song faster and faster! When we line up to wash our hands for snack in two lines, we teach the boys to say, “Ladies first!” and the girls walk first to the bathroom. Of course, we also want to be fair to the boys. They walk first back to the classroom. As I pass out snacks, I encourage my students to say “Thank you,” or “No, thank you.” When they leave the classroom to go home, they say “Goodbye” to each other. It’s often said that it’s the little things that count, and they really do.

I started off this post, as you can tell by the title, ready to complain about people who have lost the good manners they learned in preschool. I tend to remember when I’ve been wronged rather than the good things people do. When I was thinking about this post, however, something happened to change my perspective. I had called and left a mom a message about school related information which didn’t require a call back. A few minutes later, the mom called me back to thank me for calling her. It was such a small thing, and yet so nice.

Strangers hold the door for me all the time when we’re entering the same building. If I’m grocery shopping on a busy Saturday afternoon, people in a crowded aisle say “Excuse me.” When I pick something up for someone who dropped it, I’ll hear a “Thank you” in return. Sometimes, even drivers are courteous and let me turn when I have the right of way.

Yes, there was that lady who was NOT going to let me get in front of her at the school drop off lane, even though it was my turn. There’s always that person at the grocery store who is going to get her shopping done quickly no matter who is standing in the way, even if it means bowling over that old man leaning on his cart. Someone will always dart in front of me when a cashier opens a new register when I’ve clearly been waiting longer. Bad manners are everywhere!

Will you think that I’m too much of a Pollyanna if I try to forget the bad manners and remember the good? It’s not an easy thing to do!

But maybe if I try to remember the good manners people show, the next time that lady cuts me off in the drop off line I’ll be more ready to smile and let her go–instead of using a certain hand gesture that most certainly does not show good manners.

Do you use good manners, or are you just rude? Link up your manners post here, and visit my co-host Gretchen to see her Spin on manners! Please use #SpinCycle when you promote your posts, and don’t be rude…visit at least 2-3 links!

Gretchen and I will post next week’s Spin Cycle prompt on Monday. 🙂