A funny story has it that a police officer was investigating an
accident. Referring to a woman lying unconscious in the street, he
asked, "Who was driving the car?"
"I was," a man replied.
"How did you happen to hit her?" the officer inquired.
"I didn't!" he said. "As I approached the intersection, I saw that she
was trying to cross the street. So I stopped for her and she fainted."
I'm not saying that courtesy is rare, but in some cities it's said
that there are only two kinds of pedestrians: the quick and the dead.
Maybe it's that "common courtesy" is not as common as it might be.
A wonderful story comes from 19th Century England. According to the
account, Queen Victoria was once at a diplomatic reception in London.
The guest of honor was an African chieftain. All went well during the
meal until, at the end, finger bowls were served. The guest of honor
had never seen a British finger bowl, and no one had thought to brief
him beforehand about its purpose. So he took the bowl in his two
hands, lifted it to his mouth, and drank its contents down!
For an instant there was breathless silence among the British
privileged guests, and then they began to whisper to one another. All
that stopped, however, when Queen Victoria silently took her finger
bowl in her two hands, lifted it, and drank its contents! A moment
later, 500 surprised British ladies and gentlemen simultaneously drank
the contents of their own finger bowls.
It was the queen's uncommon courtesy that guarded her guest from
certain embarrassment.
"Knowledge, ability, experience are of little avail in reaching high
success if courtesy be lacking," says George D. Powers. "Courtesy is
the one passport that will be accepted without question in every land,
in every office, in every home, in every heart in the world. For
nothing commends itself so well as kindness; and courtesy is
kindness."
-- From A LIFE THAT MAKES A DIFFERENCE by Steve Goodier
www.lifesupportsystem.com
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