What Ever Happened to Good Manners?

Photo by Zimurg

I would like to know just when people stopped being polite and started being so downright rude. Take today for instance. I telephoned the local Walmart to inquire about a vacuum cleaner that was out of stock when I was there on Tuesday and which I was told would be ordered and delivered to the store within a day or so.

The young woman who answered the phone said she would transfer my call to Housewares. I said, “Thank you.” She didn’t say doodley squat in return. Then again, I do think maybe she grunted. I’m not sure. Anyway, the next person who came on the line was another young woman, and when I told her the purpose of my call, she related that she worked in Jewelry and needed to page someone in Housewares since she didn’t “know nothing about vacuum cleaners.” I said, “Thank you.” She at least responded, although what she said wasn’t “You’re welcome,” but “Okay.” Well, the next person who picked up the phone was supposedly a manager of some kind, and when I told her the reason for my call, she said she would need to check with yet another person since she didn’t know when the delivery truck was due. I replied, “Thank you.” She replied, “All right.”

After holding the receiver to my ear for approximately 20 minutes, which felt more like an hour, and listening to dead silence (Why doesn’t Walmart have canned music like other stores?), I decided that either the woman had gotten lost on her way to locate the other person, taken her lunch break, left for the day and gone home, or been abducted by aliens, so I hung up and redialed the number for Information. The same young women who had answered my first call answered the phone again and again redirected my call to Housewares. The person who picked up the phone this time was a guy who worked in Automotive. He said he would page someone in Housewares. I said, “Thank you.” He said, “No problem.”

Well, long story short—or at least semi-short—I finally got through to someone who could answer my question. In fact, she was very knowledgeable and helpful. She was also very polite, for when I said, “Thank you,” she actually responded, “You’re welcome.” In fact, if I didn’t think my call would be directed to someone in Infants Wear or perhaps Sporting Goods, I would call and give this nice, helpful, polite employee a commendation.

And that brings me full circle to the point of this blog. And, no, it’s not the inefficiency of Walmart; it’s whatever happened to good manners? In my opinion, “okay,” “all right,” and “no problem” are not polite responses to someone who has just thanked you for your time, effort, assistance, or anything else. Of course, perhaps such blasé responses are better than no responses at all or, heaven forbid, a grunt, but mannerly they are not. It’s a different world today, however, than when I was growing up, or even 20 years ago, so maybe it’s simply a sign of the times. In my opinion, though, today’s world is a far less pleasant place, and one of the main reasons is the lack of good manners.