Wonderland - Version 2024

B2 Mind Your Manners

B2. "Mind Your Manners!" – The Red Queen insists on Alice having manners around her. What sort of rules/manners/common courtesies would you like to see more of these days? (<500 words)

I sure would like people to be kind to each other more often. You don’t have to like someone or be their friend. Just be kind.

Just the other day I went out to lunch with a friend. We went to a local restaurant. I don’t often go out to eat in town. I rarely have the chance or the money to do so. But that day, the chance was there and I had some money from a birthday gift. So after working in the museum for the morning with this friend, and hubby out of town, I suggested we walk to a friend’s restaurant.

So as we place our order, I had a hard time. First, seeing the menu. It was on the wall, hard to read since my eyes have been bothering me lately. So I go from memory as to what they’ve had in the past.

“Sorry. We don’t have that,” states the annoyed cashier.

I try again.

“Sorry, WE DON’T HAVE the TURKEY. Supply issue. We have a chicken thigh.”

“Sure, I’ll have a chicken sandwich.”

Now, I know it’s loud in there. Echoing, large space.

“Norma, I know YOU DON’t LIKE ME! It’s a PLATTER! Do you want that?”

What does not liking her have anything to do with what I want to eat???

“Yes, the platter. And a can of Coke.”

“We don’t HAVE CANS!” She points. “It’s a machine. What two sides?”

Mercy sakes. I order, I pay.

Then as we go back to sit and wait. I tell my friend of the interaction in the past with this person.

Again, common courtesy. Liking me has nothing to do with common courtesy when I order something from a restaurant where she works. She doesn’t own this place, she works there. My friend owns it. I emailed my friend, told him what happened. Should I have done that? Probably not.

Okay, so let’s do this as a scenario:
Say you go into a store. Someone you’ve had a problem with in the past checks you out. You buy some food.

“That will be six dollars.”

You give this person your credit card.

Behind you are others waiting.

“You KNOW I don’t LIKE you, Susie” this person says loudly, as she processes and returns your credit card with great drama and then shoves the receipt in the bag with the carrots and celery and shoves that bag down the conveyor.

You’re dismissed. Everyone now knows you aren’t liked, for some reason, by this person.

Or course, it shouldn’t matter. Perhaps she doesn’t like anyone.

But it does hurt just a little. So you should shrug your shoulders, straighten your back and walk away. Life is short. Be nice to one another.

W/C 456

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