The post below is something I wrote a while back, but lately it’s feeling very relevant again. I was recently presented with a situation that demonstrated such an utter disregard for basic manners that I honestly didn’t know what to say. For those of you who know me, you know that’s no short order.

Now granted, I come across this weekly when I go to the playground with my kids. I see kids who are so into what they’re doing that they forget to say please or thank you. You can easily forgive things like that. After all, they’re kids.

But, this lack of common and basic manners…and respect…came from an adult. And by adult, I don’t mean someone who’s legally an adult and over the age of 17. No I mean a real adult. I’m continually blown away by how self absorbed people can be. What has become of our society? When did we stop thinking about others? When did we forget things that were taught in kindergarten?

Please and thank you. Simple words. Very simple actually. We’re taught these words at an early age. My daughter learned the words and when to use them before she was 2. On a daily basis she uses them. In truth, she probably uses them more than she should. But, I’m not about to scold her for overuse

So, why, if a 2 year old can understand the concept of please and thank you, can’t adults? Think about it. This isn’t some gross over exaggeration or a very wide brush I’m painting with. Think about your daily interactions with people. Whether those interactions are online or offline, we seem to have forgotten please and thank you.

Lately, I’ve become hyper sensitive to this phenomena. I took an inventory of people that I work with and engage with on a daily basis. I didn’t just look at the people I currently interact with, I actually took a 6 month look back. This inventory covered client meetings, social gatherings, family events, business functions and of course interactive communication. It’s times like this that I wish I had paid more attention to Business Stats 3001 so that I could have done some formal modeling to better represent my findings. But, seeing as I was busy playing intramural basketball, there won’t be any pretty graphs.

In lieu of graphs and charts, I’m just going to provide some simple raw analysis. Here’s the deal, the people who remember “please” and “thank you” are the people I enjoy spending time with. They’re the people who make me want to be be better…to over deliver for them. They also happen to be the most successful. Those who kind find the 5 seconds it takes to say please and thank you, are without a doubt the most selfish, self absorbed and disingenuous people I interact with.

I realize, I’m just a small sample size. I realize this isn’t scientific. But, I gotta tell you, in the spirit of Blink, my gut tells me I’m right on. Given how simple, quick and easy it is to say “please” and “thank you,” why aren’t we doing it more? What’s your daily interaction like? Are you finding a similar story? I’d love to hear about it.

Please share your feedback. Thank you. See that wasn’t so hard.