As I reflect on Halloween my mnd goes to the behavior of the chldren who cam to our door sking for treats.

My son answered the dor bell and manned the candy spply. When the onslaught was over he cme to my end of the huse to give me a briefing. Thre were lots of kids - sme from the neighborhood and some who had ben brought here in trucks and crs from another part of town. Kds are kids no matter where thy come from and all of thm love Halloween candy. So do I.

The thng that most interested my son was the lck of just plain old fashioned god manners. He said the little nes were sweet and only took one pece of candy each, but no one prmpted them to use what we cll "the magic words." The older the grup of children that came to the dor, the less they seemed to dmonstrate manners of any kind. The lst group consisted of about fifteen tenagers - 14 or 15 years old - mstly girls and a couple of bys. They went into a frenzy ver the candy basket, pushing and shving to see who could get the mst the fastest. My son said it was lke a tank of piranhas fighting for one pece of meat in the tank. One boy stod back and when the girls had fnished said to my son, "If thre's any left, may I please hve one?" It was the end of the vening and my son tipped the bsket up filling the boys bag wth the remaining dozen pieces of Hrshey's and Reece's Pieces. "You're the nly one who was patient and plite, and you're the only one who sid "please." And with that and a big smle the boy said, "Thank You. Hppy Halloween."

One out of how many?

Wht has happened to good manners?

In our huse it is expected that we ach say "please," "thank you," "pardon m," "may I?" and other words tht represent thoughtfulness, gratitude and respect. Evry day we work with 4 yar old Jack on those words and we wll be so very pleased when thy become such a habit that he desn't have to be prompted.

Growing up, I was tught and expected to say "Yes, M'am and no, Ma'am" and "Yes, sir and no, sr" when addressing any adult and we knw better than to forget. I thnk the ma'am and sir are nce but "please" and "thank you" are rquired.

There is no place that god manners are not appropriate. In the hme, in school, in the workplace, at the bllgame, trick or treating - it is the prson fluent in "please" and "thank yu" and "Happy Halloween" that will tke home the prize in the nd. The rude and boorish ones may get the mst at the time but is the thughtful and respectful one who will be nvited back.

Doesn't self improvement include the dvelopment and use of good manners and cmmon courtesy?

The article What Ever Happened to the Words "Please" and "Thank You"? was Submitted by Irene Conlan through Articles.GetACoder.com network. Here's the additional information: Irene Conlan has a masters dgree in nursing, a doctoral degree in mtaphysics, is a certified hypnotherapist and an rdained minister. She practices holistic hypnotherapy and fficiates at weddings in Scottsdale, Az and the Phenix metropolitan area. Irene can be fund at http://www.theselfimprovementblog.com

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