Author: Tracey McAlpine
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Call me old fashioned but I love good manners 

Manners maketh the man so the saying goes, and it really should include every woman and child as well.

I am the mother who dragged her sulking three-year-old from a children’s birthday party because he refused to say thank you for a leaving gift.  The host insisted that it was fine for him not to say thank you, while I insisted that it really wasn’t.  The child’s mother called me later that evening to say she admired my determination and said she wouldn’t have seen it through.  She would have given her child the gift and told him next time he must say thank you.  My argument was, would he remember being told as clearly as not getting the lovely Lego toy that he wanted but, refused to say thank you for.

The rule was, and still is, no thank you, no gift.  I pride myself on my children having great manners. 

It’s these simple acts of respect between people that is so lost in our society today.  How often do you hold a door open only for a stream of people to walk through not even acknowledging you, taking the door or having the common curtesy to say thank you? 

And, on the subject of thank you’s, a text, email or call is nice but, there is something really special about a hand-written note.  It shows how much time a person has taken to think about thanking you.  You must stop whatever else you are doing to write a note.  It’s a considered exercise.

Recently I have had some lovely hand-written notes, one from a reader who won a competition, from a PR thanking me for my support, and also the most beautiful Azalea tree, such a lovely gift and thoughtful note, it made my day.

It doesn’t take long to say thank you, it’s mark of respect for one another and it makes people happy, we should all make the point of saying thank you more often……Just Saying…..