Disappearing Courtesy

"Courtesy is rapidly disappearing from everyday interactions, and as a result, we are all the poorer for it."

From your perspective, is this an accurate observation? Why or why not? Explain, using reasons and/or examples from your own experience, observations, or reading.

Courtesy used to be the hallmark of a gentleman or a lady, a mark of good upbringing and a way of respecting fellow human beings. Unfortunately, with each passing day such courtesies are abandoned in favour of a more direct and brash approach. Such a transition has indeed left us all the poorer for it.

Courtesy is to daily life as punctuation marks are to writing. Without them many, an interaction seem abrupt, confusing, unsolicited or downright rude. For anybody who has been a victim of road rage, air rage or someone in hurry to save a few seconds, the loss is self-evident. A discourteous society is a danger to itself and is stressful to live in. 

Courtesy is not just a sugar coated pill that is just "good to have": it can have a significant practical effect on the day-to-day life of people and businesses as well. Every year companies loose revenues and man-hours to discourteous employees who make the work-environment tougher. A discourteous population is a sure-shot way to kill tourism and local happiness alike. It is no surprise, then, that countries like Singapore have even gone to the extent of undertaking National Courtesy Campaigns that aim at making the populace more considerate towards each other and hence make the society a better place to live in. All this has gone a long way to project Singapore as a business friendly and safe place around the globe. Similarly, the British have long been envied for their flawless, polished politeness and, hence, seen as master diplomats. The position London enjoys in the international circuit is partly attributable to that.

Saying "please" is a recognition that we need help. Saying "thank you" acknowledges that somebody has taken out time to do something for us. Cutting someone to get ahead in line may save a few seconds, but is a blatant disrespect of people's time and sensibility. Respecting each other's space and time, while adopting a less selfish and less greedy attitude, can go a long way in cutting down tension, improving productivity and encouraging happiness. In fact, I would go as far to say that the ever-growing incidents of shooting rampages that the US suffers is a case-in-point of the falling level of respect for human life. The current President of US, hence, deeply stresses on "respect" when dealing with foreign relations.

Concluding, courtesy is indeed disappearing rapidly from everyday interaction. This in turn is pushing down human values, friendliness and compassion. Even when the immediate results of such changes may not be evident, over the long run it increases tensions and make societies rude and unlivable. The loss is not just moral but has practical ramifications in form of mental anguish, loss of productivity, deterioration of work atmosphere and loss of business.