Courtesy throughout the generations has deteriorated among everyone. Possible
causes for the decline of courtesy in society are lower standards of morals, the
courtesy we receive ourselves, and the want for materialistic things. With the
demeanor of morals, self-confidence, and values being little to none; courtesy
among ourselves and strangers has diminished. In a whole, society has turned
into greedy and self-absorbed people. The standard morals of now differ highly
from generations ago. People were more giving, helpful, and sympathetic before
my time. The incessant want for materialistic things has turned our generation
into “green-eyed” monsters. As a result of our selfishness, courtesy among
people in general is now hateful. We respond to people in need in a way that is
egotistic. We feel that we will never have to be in a position of need a dime
for that extra emergency phone call, or we will never have a tire blow-out on
the highway. We, our society, thinks too highly of itself causing us to not be
empathetic. In the same way that moral values affect our kindness and courtesy,
the response we receive from other people affect our reactions. For instance,
when standing in a grocery line being checked out and not having quite the right
change. If a willing person behind you were to spare some change, you would be
more likely to return the favor towards another person short on hand. Similarly,
when driving through heavy traffic; if someone were to cut you off, you would be
more prone to drive offensively. In addition to our moral values and the way
respond to others, we tend to have not realized the importance of human life. We
blow off a kind thank you and not even think of the impact that a compliment
would have on someone. A kind attitude or a courteous gesture shown would give
people a reason to be courteous to others. We take human feelings and random
acts of kindness for granted everyday. An excuse me, or a thank you goes
unnoticed and unappreciated in our daily lives. We assume that a person really
isn’t sorry, or really doesn’t care if you were to get on the first
available elevator even though it was full. This lack of recognition towards
other people’s kindness causes us to not be courteous towards others. It is
always the extra smile you give to your waitress even though she has messed up
your order, and the extra time you waste to let the pregnant mother have your
taxi. On the whole, if we were to be able to recognize the reasons that cause
our inability to be courteous towards others, we would be able to solve it.
It’s that extra mile that people go to show appreciation that people notice,
and give respect to. A kind act shown to us would make us retaliate with kinds
act on other people. Even though our moralistic values and over all quality of
life has declined, we could still stop and think to recognize other people. We
could stop this ongoing issue of not being able to lend a helping hand. The
declination of courtesy towards other people could stop somewhere if one person
would stand up and show a random act of kindness.