My first blog post for the year comes two months in. Hopefully everyone made it through January (longest month ever after getting paid in December) safely and have now settled into February quite nicely. For those who have resolved to make changes in their lives, hats off to you. For those who have not, hats off to you too.
This post was inspired last Saturday afternoon while I was picking up my cousins classmate for them to go hang out. While he was getting in I heard his mom says “John” (not his real name)”yes mom”, “ do you have everything you need in life?’. At this time I looked over at my aunt who looked back at this 11 year old kid with the same blank expression I had. His mother then said without missing a beat “manners and clean underwear”.
Well this made my day as we all couldn’t help but laugh. Strangely enough though his mother was more stern than amused. It got me thinking that not many parents in today’s society enforce the value of good manners on their children. Though light hearted the moment may have been, the seriousness of it was definitely loud and clear. In my day and age I could not go a day in school without hearing one of my teachers repeat the adage “Manners maketh a man”. Of course at per-teenage years such sayings meant little or nothing. It was only until entering the world of work I realized how far your repertoire of pleasantries and “manners” can carry you. Whereas skill, knowledge and networking might get you in the door, other factors like agreeableness, personality and positive work ethic might keep you there and help you to excel.
So for 2013, when heading out to the wonderful world of work, be sure not to forget your manners or more so your clean underwear.
No comments:
Post a Comment