Title: "Please Read This Story, Thank You"

By: Linton Weeks

Central Argument: As we become more knowledgeable we seem to have forgotten our manners.

As each generation takes their place on this planet, things change, including the way we behave. As kids, we are constantly reminded by our elders to say our pleases and thank yous. It seems as each generation takes their place on the planet, we become more rude, and instead of asking for things, we demand for things. Now days people are so involved with their own lives that they do not even have time to smile at a person sitting on a bus seat next to them. With the world becoming more complex, people start focusing on just themselves. We all seem to be relying on just the outward appearance, we have forgotten what it was like to smile, to take a break, to enjoy life. We have forgotten to live.

With such a competitive world, and new technology we feel as though we do not need to communicate with people. We simply do what is needed without thinking twice about it. If we need coffee we walk over to Starbucks and get coffee from a stranger. Neither the stranger or the buyer finds it important to communicate. We don't say please, we simply say I want it. With the seller at the other end of the wall, no one feels the need to communicate beyond just getting their work done. Now the world seems to revolve around the work getting done, rather than the people who are doing the work. We feel as though going beyond just getting what is done, or doing what needs to be done is not important. We feel that it is not asked of the job to communicate more words than necessary.

The point is maybe it is not asked of the job to do more than deliver, or buy. The fact is we are all connected. When even just one person smiles and asks you how your day was, this makes things all the more better. The world for those few minutes seems more of not just work and success, but joy and happiness. We all need a little bit of cheering up every once in a while. We need people to give us compliments and respect us. As the saying goes “do one to other as you would have them do to you.” No one likes to be shouted at, or demanded of things. It does not hurt us to be civilized and be peaceful people. For if we made the effort to go out of our way just a little to be nice to someone, say please, and thank you. We would not just make the other person feel, but feel good ourselves for we have changed maybe just few seconds of someone else's life.