It's an unkind world out there ya'll!!! Not everyone practices civility. People cut in line in front of me at the grocery store. People bump into me in public places and say nothing. Gift recipients don't bother to say thank you for a gift. Lord have mercy!
These are some magical words that we should all use to show respect and politness to others:
I raised by my parents to use kind words...to say "Yes Ma'am/No Ma'am and Yes Sir/No Sir" as a sign of respect to those who were older than me. Southerners use these polite phrases when speaking to adults...of any age. It is not considered as an attitude of servitude...it is a form of respect! Actually, if a Southern child answers an adult with just "Yes," that's considered rude! I always say "Yes sir" to the young bag boy at Publix...he deserves my respect just as much as the Manager of Publix!!!
"Excuse Me" should be used when poliltely...
~Interrupting someone
~Telling someone you are leaving
~Getting someone's attention
~Asking someone to move so that you can get past them
Saying "I'm Sorry" is a polite way of expressing sadness and sympathy or apologizing when you have done something wrong.
"May I?" is a polite way to ask permission..."May I take your coat? May I carry your groceries to your car? May I speak with Miss Janice?"
"Please" is a magical word and should be used all the time. When you make a request from someone and add the word "Please," you are showing respect and consideration for another person.
"Thank you" is a word that should be used by all of us...everyday of our lives! "Thank you" is a word that shows respect and appreciation for an act of kindness...from someone opening the door for you to buying you a meal.
"You're Welcome"...is an appropriate way of responding to a 'thank you.' It's a word that we sometimes forget to use and should be used instead of a response like "No problem!"
Southern parents teach their children to use kinds words at a young age. They know that little gestures of kindness go a long way in showing politness and respect to others.
"The kindest word in all the world is the unkind word, unsaid."
Source Unknown
26 comments:
As someone who works in a public capacity, there are so many times where I am not even acknowledged when I greet someone. I wish there were more Miss Janices in the world!
If only we could teach cashiers to say thank you to customers for their patronage!
I hope you are having a wonderful weekend!
Love your blog! Visit mine at
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What a wonderful post. I teach first grade and try desperately to teach my little ones manners!
Amen!
What a wonderful reminder to us all! I wish some of the cashiers here in our area would learn some of the southern manners.
Not everyone may have had the privilege of being raised and taught beautiful manners ~ but as adults we must take it upon ourselves to ensure we know and have and use proper manners...Thank you Miss Janice for keeping us updated and reminded .. much appreciated..HHL
Thank you for posting this Miss Janice.
I hope you're having a lovely Sunday.
Hello Miss Janice! Bravo!!! There is absolutely no excuse for people to be unkind to one another; it is the one thing in life that cannot be justified away!-- I was unkind because....? I deserve to be unkind because...? If only people would realize kindness could AND would change the world! Have a wonderful week - Sincerely, Jeannette
Yes ma'am....well said Miss Janice. A little kindness goes a long way!
I hope you've had a lovely weekend.
xx
Thank you, Miss Janice, for writing about a subject that needs homework. One of the comments left said she teaches first grade and desperately tries to teach her students manners. Well said and appreciated. For good manners (like so much) begin in the home. And for those parents who do teach manners only to see them disappear when their kids go to school, it's a sad indictment on the times that manners are often viewed as a sign of weakness. I'm perplexed as to how much could go so wrong. Anyway, hub and I are back from our holiday; looking forward to more of your posts.
Love this post! I am Southern and we always say yes ma'am and yes sir. I raise my girls this way. Funny tho, their dad is from Iowa and it took some time for him to get used to "yes sir." He would say "I'm not sir, I'm dad." (He is former military too). But I told him, we're in VA, it's Southern and it's manners. So he has gotten used to it.
Amen!! Preach it, Miss Janice! I'm so thankful I was raised by my southern mama to have manners! I really do try. It's such a shame the young parents of today don't take the time to teach these things to their children. In your words, "Lord, have mercy!"
Hope you've had a great weekend and be a sweetie,
Shelia;)
Yes Miss Janice!
These are the lessons my teaching partner and I teach and preach each and every day in our kindergaten room. We end our year with some lovely little children who know how to show respect in many ways! Hear Hear! :)
it is like my Nanny is speaking through you as a medium from Heaven- she was BIIIIIIIIIIIIIIG on manners and niceties and it showed and I'm thankful that she hammed it into us- it's amazing that something we consider what should be a "norm" isn't. boooh.
xoox
kHm
Miss Janice, I think of you every time I go to Walt Disney World....I wish they had you on one of the resort channels...there is a channel for dining information, a channel for ticket information, a channel for special attractions, and you need a loop featuring this post on kind words and also proper standing/waiting in line etiquette.....
Thanks for the reminder!!
As a Girl Scout Leader, I'm teaching the girls manners and how to be respectful and polite. I am teaching them to always use the words you wrote about. Well, with the exception of the Sir/Ma'am. Here in CA no one says that except to old people. Once someone says Ma'am to a women it's almost an insult here because it means you have finally become offically old. LOL
Hugs
Joanne
Oh so true. I want to print this post and frame it for my classroom. If only everyone would use the simple words and phrases you list, the world would be a happier place. Have a great day.
Miss Janice,
Thank you, thank you, thank you for this post. People rush around so much today and think they're entitled to be rude because they're just so busy. They think they don't have the time to behave civally, but it doesn't take a moment to show respect and kindness towards someone. It's refreshing to know that there are so many others who share my exasperation!!
Have a blessed day,
Donna
These are great! And if these "kind words" (love the words being called kind words)would spread across the country, it would be even better. I use all of these and I dislike the looks I get when I say ma'am/sir...I should not have to explain why I use these words, and people shouldn't get angry by me calling them ma'am/sir. I use it as a term of respect despite age/location.
I love that you included "May"...that has always been a grammatical "stickler" with me. I used to always correct my daughter or SOME others when they would ask me "can I". My reply was always "sure you can but 'may you', now that may be a different story."
Thank again Miss Janice for a wonderful post.
all tooooooo often are these words omitted from our language.
i remember the "you're welcome" lesson i learned when i was working for a very high-profile retailer, and the staff was told never to say "no problem" and replace a "you're welcome" with a "my pleasure" (i like that one too!)
and i'll never forget a mistake i made in the seventh grade by asking a teacher to repeat a question.... with a yes, please, when it should've been a yes ma'am.
oh miss janice, i love your lessons! i can only hope i'm doing a decent job in teaching muffy hers!
Well said, Miss Janice! Now, if we could just get all the folks who NEED to read this to actually read and do this we'd really "be cookin' with gas".:)
As an Alabama elementary school teacher, I cannot tell you how much our children need to learn these kind words. I also can assure you that all southern parents sadly do not teach their children these things. I require all of my students to use good manners, even if they have to repeat themselves several times until they get it correct. I always tell them that being nice and polite will get you farther than all the brains and money in the world.
Went over my classroom rules with my kiddos for the first time today. And what was the big word we all came up with: RESPECT. And that goes hand in hand with MANNERS! Amen...
Oh Miss Janice, if I get 'told off' by one more woman who is angry that I say 'yes, ma'am' to her I may forget my raising and go bonkers. Calling someone 'ma'am' as you said is the highest form of respect. It does not mean I think you are old, or run a 'brothel.' Yes. I had a woman stomp off one time because that is what a ma'am does. Sad, isn't it?
Great post! And thanks for writing 'you're welcome' as opposed to 'your welcome'...one of my pet peeves. :)
This post was spot on, Miss Janice! Thank you for sharing it with us. I hope you're having an enjoyable week! Blessings~
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