Tag: Thank you

Manners

woman girl lunch meal
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

The children now love luxury, they have bad manners, contempt for authority, they show disrespect for elders …. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, and gobble up dainties at the table….*

I am astounded by the total lack of manners some people show today. Everywhere I look, I am surrounded by rude people with absolutely no respect for others and it makes me wonder about their upbringing. Sadly, this world has become a very impolite place to live in.

I would like to remind people of some fairly basic manners. Here are some of the most forgotten customs that I see that need to be brought back into today’s society.

I think the first set of manners that I was taught as a child was to always say “please” and “thank you.” Saying please and thank you shows good upbringing and is respectful. The one you are saying this to is a person and they are worthy of respect just like you are. Combine this with a “You’re welcome”, and you have a trifecta of good etiquette.

My parents instructed me that you are supposed to hold the door for anyone. It does not matter who they are, male, female, young, old, someone you love or someone you hate. You show respect to someone anyways and you hold the door open for them. I will do the same for you.

Excuse me, but I do not understand why we have forgotten how to say “excuse me” when we are trying to go past another person or when we accidentally bump into them. Since when did it become okay to bump into someone and act like it did not matter to you? Oh yeah, it never has.

According to gotquestions.org, saying “bless you” to someone could have begun in several different places. The most prevalent line of thought is it originated from illness. In 590 AD, Italy underwent a terrible plague and the Pope decreed that whenever someone sneezed, people were to say “God bless you” and make the sign of the cross over their mouths, to try to keep the individual from becoming infected with the plague.

Because a sneeze was a symptom of the plague, people who heard another sneeze and said “God bless you” took interest in the person’s life. So now, when someone sneezes, and someone else says “bless you,” they are displaying manners from a long time ago. This might seem like a trivial act, but it is something that can show someone you care.

It might just be me, but something that can tick me off faster than getting cut off in traffic is when someone you are talking to does not make eye contact with me while we are having a conversation. Eye contact is one of the keys to having a good conversation. People now days stare at their phones while talking to each other. When someone does this to me I just stop talking. Obviously what is happening on their small screen is more important than having a real conversation with me.  When you are talking with someone, look them in the eyes to let them know they are important to you and you are listening to what they have to say.

Interrupting and talking over each other seems to be a national pastime. Watch one episode of “Jerry Springer” and you will see what I mean. There are a few acceptable times when it is OK to interrupt, like when the building is on fire or saying “Watch out” to prevent someone from getting hurt.

You don’t monopolize a conversation. I know your life is interesting, but so is mine. I have things in my life that I want to share with you. However if you are talking so much and I can’t get a word in edgewise or you don’t listen to me I feel you are disrespecting me.

If you are over the age of five, you should know proper table manners. You don’t chew with your mouth open, you keep your elbows off the table, you don’t reach in front of others’ plates, ask to have things passed to you. You don’t talk with your mouth full and you ask to be excused from the table when you are done eating. I learned these things via the “wooden spoon” method. My mother had a wooden spoon at the dinner table and if you transgressed…………………… well, you know what happened.

I believe in good old fashioned manners. I believe that a man should pay for dinner on a date. I believe that a man should come to the door when he picks up a lady, not sit on the street honking his horn. I believe that a man should open a woman’s car door and hold doors open for her.

* FYI The opening paragraph in this article is taken from a statement made by the philosopher Socrates (469–399 B.C.). I guess some things never change.

Norb is a freelance journalist from Lockport.

Hiring Veterans is good for everyone

Don’t Forget, Hire a Vet.

That person behind the counter or clerk you meet in the aisle of a store that you encounter today just might be a veteran. Veterans and reservists help staff and run operations for lots of businesses both locally and across the nation, including restaurants, manufacturers and retailers. Mighty Taco in Lockport has an Air Force veteran working there and we always spar with each other because I was a Navy veteran.

Hiring veterans benefits everybody. I can think of no better way to say “Thank you for your service” than to offer a veteran a job. Many veterans, both enlisted or officers, have higher education degrees, and many of them are very hard workers. Sometimes the job proficiency that you are asking for is something that can be taught and many ex-military are quick learners. Employers may want plug and play, but they are going to have to train someone no matter who they hire.

Many employers who seek out veterans to hire have stated there are many benefits in attracting veterans such as the experience that they bring like more focused attention and the ability to work independently. Military people are resilient and reliable. They don’t get upset or disturbed by change and you can count on them. They are used to going in and tackling challenges and accomplishing a mission.

Hiring veterans can provide tax advantages to employers as well. Because I was a Vietnam veteran, my employer got a tax advantage and I helped them fulfill their “diversity” quota. It was not only a win, win for them but it was a win for me.

I frequently see people with a ball cap on that lists a branch of the service or the unit they served with. I make it a point to walk up to them and welcome them home, thanking them for their service. It takes a special type of person to devote a part of their life to our country. Sometimes we may bust on each other for being in the “wrong” branch of the service but we are all brothers and sisters in arms.

One company, Walmart, is more than halfway to its goal of hiring 250,000 veterans by 2020. Walmart calls its program the Veterans Welcome Home Commitment. Through the program, it guarantees it will offer a position to every veteran who’s honorably discharged after Memorial Day 2013, or later. So far, the company said it’s hired about 188,000 veterans and promoted 28,000 more. Company officials also view military veterans honorably discharged before 2013 as potentially desirable employees, based upon their subsequent training and experiences.

Hundreds of companies that make hiring veterans a priority are about to get some attention from the U.S. Labor Department through a recognition program Congress created earlier this year. The Honoring Investments in Recruiting and Employing (HIRE) American Military Veterans Act, signed by President Donald Trump in May, creates the HIRE Vets Medallion Program to provide that recognition.

The medallion program will recognize about 300 participating employers in 2018 before being expanded the following year, federal officials said. “Through their military service, America’s veterans have leadership skills, technical expertise, and proven problem-solving capabilities. These are attributes that any employer would want.”

Companies acknowledged through the program will be able to show off HIRE Vets Medallions on their websites and within their social media posts and in printed materials.

Many times, employers don’t quite understand how to convert a veteran’s experience into comparable private sector jobs and frequently there aren’t jobs that correspond to their experience. I can’t think of many jobs that would utilize a Navy Seal’s or a Gunner’s mate’s training for instance. The problem is understanding that every veteran has had so many more duties than it initially appears. While veterans have educational opportunities by the use of the GI Bill, sometimes going back to school isn’t a realistic option. They still have to make a living especially if they have a family.

Many mistaken beliefs about veterans are driven by the high-profile stories that are covered in the media. There’s also the influence of an extensively quoted statistic from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. In its 2012 suicide data report, they found that every day, an average of 22 veterans take their own lives, although this number doesn’t mean their death is just related to their being in the service. The population cannot be distilled down to just a simple number.

A few industry players are attempting to counteract this problem with specialized programs that cater to veterans and their families. The Cosmopolitan, a resort in Las Vegas actively recruits veterans and they reported this past year that 200 of their 5,000 employees are veterans or spouses of veterans.

Norb is a Lockport resident, a proud American and Navy veteran.