POLITENESS IS CHEAP

Evening Post, Volume XCIII, Issue 95, 21 April 1917, Page 11

POLITENESS IS CHEAP

, AND IS DECIDEDLY PROFIT, ABLE. That was a good human-interest story of ;■ the Portland, Oregon, shorthand writer, who fell heir to 10,000dol. for no other reason than that she had been in the habit of saying "Good morning" and "Good night" to an aged ferry gateman as .she went to and fro across the water each day (says the San Francisco Chronicle). ' , There was no special teason why she should have been polite to that man in particular. His position in life was not such as to cause her to suspect that he was worth any considerable sum of money. ■ It was just her instinct to be polite, and, under similar circumstances, she would have acted in the same way to any other elderly man who might have been engaged in the same duties, j It is not written in the code of etiquette that every young woman should exchange the time of day with every old gentleman she happens to meet, but when there is any frequency in such meetings, and, especially when the veteran is a semi-public official performing a duty which brings her in contact with him, it is gracious on her part to exhibit such recognition as is within the bounds of womanly reserve. There is no law nor rule governing these matters, which are adjusted entirely by instinct. A woman's feelings are all that need be consulted, for they are invariably right when prompted to manifest any mark of respect.

Happily, the woman in the Portland story is but one of the many thousands who are polite by nature, but, unfortunately, there are countless thousands of others who are far too self-centred to make oven politeness a possibility, unless as pose with a view to selfish purposes. Politeness costs nothing, but it pays handsome dividends. They do not always come in a lump sum, as in the case of the Portland young lady, but they are declared every day, and every time politeness is appreciated. Though seen at its best as an instinct, it is almost equally pleasing when the result is one of the easiest of all habits to cultivate.

The want of politeness is not so much due to positive boorishness as to the want of thought. A little reflection upon the fact that it is one of the lubricants of life, a means of minimising the waste of friction and moving along the line of least resistance, and it will be seen as something 1 within the reach of all.

A sensible mind will always distinguish between true politeness and that manifestly insincere and effusive gush which is" but the other extreme of deliberate rudeness.