Whatever Happened to Good Manners?

This week, I’ve found myself quietly observing—from supermarket aisles to sideline chats, from cafés to playgrounds.

Parent-child interactions.

Grandparent wisdom.

Total strangers navigating shared spaces. And a pattern emerged: the near extinction of two of the simplest, most powerful words in our language—please and thank you.

Once considered the cornerstone of respectful human interaction, these words now echo too rarely, almost like relics of a bygone era. I’m not just talking about children. I’m talking about adults. Grown-ups bypassing checkout staff without a glance.

Coaches barking orders without acknowledgment.

Weary parents giving instructions without modelling the very behaviour they want reflected back.

So, here’s the question:

When did good manners become optional?

Is this a post-COVID fatigue?

A symptom of our distracted, fast-paced lives? Or have we quietly slipped into a new social norm where gratitude and politeness are no longer expected, and therefore no longer offered?

Let’s not allow this quiet erosion to continue.

Here’s a simple suggestion:

Bring good manners back—deliberately, joyfully, and without exception. Let’s reintroduce “please” and “thank you” into every interaction, not as performative pleasantries, but as powerful signals of mutual respect and human dignity. Let’s show children what it looks like when adults lead with kindness.

Because here’s the truth: when we expect more, we get more.

So let’s expect—and model—good manners in every home, classroom, sports field, and supermarket.

Not as a quaint custom, but as a collective commitment to treating one another with care.

There’s real hope in small habits. Let’s reclaim this one.