A
thousand years ago there was a song titled “Little Things Mean a Lot”. The gold standard for that tune was recorded
by a girl from Philadelphia by the name of Kitty Kallen, a former big band
alumna. The lyrics Ms. Kallen sang in that song have eternal legs. They remind
us that little things DO mean a lot. Examples like “please and “thank you” cost
us a heartbeat in time but yield appreciation many times over.
Society
used to place great emphasis on good manners. Our parents taught these lessons
at home. In most cases they also served as models for same. Today we are less
as a society for not keeping that good manners bar right where it used to be.
Overall we've slipped down a slippery slope to everyday vulgarity.
“Treat others as you would like to be treated”
is easy enough to handle. Most times that is. There will always be those who make
a lot of money which leads them to believe they are superior beings. Not true
of course for being a bore as well as a boor is almost always the end result. A
lot of people - particularly our young ones -
think materialism is the end game when it's not.
Out
to breakfast last Sunday, I was impressed by the courtesy a visitor from New
Orleans extended to the servers working in that restaurant. It was a nice
example of what we are talking about here. We are not living in Jolly Old
Britain where class consciousness is so inbred it was at least a partial cause
for our break from the Mother Country. Consistent graciousness is also good
practice for the mandatory moment when each of us will show up for The Final
Review.
Now
that she is “retired”, my wife volunteers for causes that assist the less
fortunate. Some of the “combat stories” inflicting on volunteers at one charity
re-sale shop defy belief. I put on my
old reporter's hat to check things out. Amazingly, some very well-to-do
customers exhibit outright haughtiness, slam down their credit cards, rarely
say “thank you” and in general treat the volunteer staff as if they were serfs.
And the women working in this charity are volunteers! One can only imagine the
misery of retail employees who must work for a living in a miserable setting.
They don't have the luxury of walking out singing the words of David Allan
Coe's memorable 1977 song “You Can Take this Job and Shove it.”
I
find myself humming that tune on behalf of these volunteers.
