Thank you so much …
I beg your pardon …
You’re very welcome …
It all began with the French. Back in the 1600’s, the French nobles spent much of their day hanging out in the Royal Court. None of them worked, so, when they weren’t gossiping, they dedicated themselves to developing elaborate social customs. From these customs they created a list of proper social behavior and called it etiquette (a word derived from an old French word meaning ticket.) This code of behavior soon spread to other European courts and eventually was adopted by the upper classes throughout the Western world. Knights bowed, ladies curtsied, and the civilized world was very, well, civil.
Where are we today?
Many people believe manners are a distant memory, and even basic civility is fast becoming the exception rather than the rule. Is it because more Mother’s are spending their days working outside of the home? Are children spending less time ducking in and out of their friend’s houses, less time making their way and testing their social skills? We baby boomers knew that our friend’s Mothers would call-us out if we did not exhibit “guest” behavior when visiting. And upon returning to our own homes our Mother’s would ask, did you say thank-you? Did you put your napkin on your lap? Over and over and over again we were reminded of our manners. Good manners became a habit. And we didn’t suffer from self esteem issues when our parent’s told us were eating like animals. When we got busted for exhibiting bad manners we knew it was our fault and took the heat and improved our behavior.
Use to be that children learned manners from watching the examples set by their parents, especially those set at the dinner table. Now, with the average family having sit-down dinners together at an all time low, a recently published study cites seriously poor behavior can be a result of those missed meals.
In fact, the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University shows that teens who sit down to a family dinner five or more times a week are 42% less likely to drink alcohol, 59% less likely to smoke cigarettes, 66% less likely to try marijuana. Yikes. It is also believed by experts that regular family dinners facilitate better communication between parents and children that help parents guide their children’s behavior and encourages kids to confide in their parents about serious matters. Whose turn is it to set the table?
Polite Post’s mission is to provide, through its daily Polite Post newsletter, entertaining, friendly and timely manners-related content that will remind, teach, and encourage common courtesy and good manners. And specifically, to provide participants with the tools and skills to exhibit those good manners in one of the most important ways—the writing of thank-you notes and appropriate social and business correspondence.
Between email, texting, tweeting and the like, technology rules the day, destroying any real opportunity for thoughtful and cordial communication. In these fast moving times, with days and nights filled with family, business and social obligations, who has the time to be polite … to even utter a thank you, yet alone write one?
At Polite Post we believe the answer is … EVERYBODY.
By unifying cutting edge computer engineering with genuine, heartfelt communications, Polite Post’s digital correspondence technology provides a fast and effective way for everybody to say thank-you in a manner that’s as distinctive and memorable as the words you write. From birthdays to Bar Mitzvahs, weddings to wakes, writing a personal thank-you or other correspondence is an important, even essential, part of the occasion. From home or office, instantly from your computer, for free.
Polite Post believes that the knowledge and understanding of good manners can make for a kinder and safer community. One where people feel and act comfortable and confident in almost any situation and importantly, exhibit mutual respect for one another. And simply put by Lillian Gish, “You can get through life with bad manners, but it's easier with good manners.”
