THE DECAY OF COURTESY

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 224, 16 June 1919, Page 5

THE DECAY OF COURTESY

. Seemiugiy small.. omissions . of: the gracious laws of courtesy only make life harder nil round. A long day's work in u ward of sick people begun without a kindly greeting of any kiud from oue'a superior in ojlice is a dreary thing, and sufficient to sap the enthusiasm of even Die most promising probationer. Must we go for a lesson in courtesy to the much-criticised "flapper," who, whatever her faults inay be, seldom fails, in a crowded tram or train, to rise and insist on giving up her seat to a tired-looking older woman, though she may be equally weary herself? Let us not entirely lose our hold upon old-fashioned ways of politeness in our daily hospital life. Big schemes of reconstruction, involving turmoil and const-ant changes, are not favourable to the growth of the tender plant of courtesy, and one is apt to lose sight of it altogether in these strenuous days of constant pressure on our timo and attention, and continual reiteration of the samo requests from tho eamo tiresome people. At the end of a day's work courtesy becomes a difficult virtue to practise, but if wo have rightly learned tho wider and deeper lessons of the war, wo should know the great value i'f small things in making 'up the sum total of earthly happiness or misery,' and do our best to practise that true courtesy which is really consideration for others as expressed in our speech ami manners.