Just this morning I was writing a request to a company for some assistance with one of their services. I found myself wondering whether I should write the word “please” in writing my request. It really got me thinking. We tell our kids to say please, we expect others to say it and yet, when we actually come to say it, we hesitate. I realised that we’ve begun to tie an association of weakness and inability to this word – “please”.
No longer does this word carry positive overtones, rather, now, quite negative connotations. You say, “please”, when you need help and admit that you cannot accomplish the task at hand on your own. It may be seen as weak and feeble. “Please, sir, can you help me?” There is, almost, a desperation implied that one is hanging from the edge of cliff.
(Oh, the joys of ranting…) I could say more but it would just be nothing more than a rant. At the end of the day, “please” is still highly appreciated. I, still, do think though that there is a decline in manners and respectfulness in society and I would hope that each one of us would not forget that we do relate and communicate with other people in this world and that it does not revolve around us.
