Throughout
my life, politeness has been a very important factor in communication. From
birth (practically) I was taught to always say please and thank you, and more
recently, taught to always leave job interviews with the standard ‘it was nice
meeting you, thank you so much for this opportunity’ speech (thanks, mom and
dad!). As I have grown and matured, I have realized that polite speech has the
unique ability to help establish meaningful connections with those around us,
and most importantly, ensure that those connections are kept and maintained
throughout our lives.
Although
the saying of ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’ is wildly popular, humans tend
to judge people all too quickly- so first impressions do in fact matter quite a
bit. By forgoing the use of simple friendly phrases, unfortunately, you could
be giving the impression that you do not respect or care about the person you are
talking to. However, by employing such simple phrases such as ‘it’s nice to
meet you’, the message is sent that you, the communicator, have a genuine
interest and respect in whomever you are conversing with. When I had my first
job interview, using friendly gestures was a top priority. This was vital
because I needed to show my future employer that I truly was interested in working
for them (spoiler alert, I did get the job!). After working for a couple of
months, and repeatedly using phrases such as ‘have a good night’, my boss approached
me and thanked me- for giving her faith in hiring high school students. As
shocking as it was to hear this, it just goes to prove that using polite gestures
does in fact help establish genuine relationships with those around you.
And now, the moment you’ve all been waiting
for… time for a meme:
Customer: *walks up to register expecting a
shorthanded greeting from the teenage cashier*
Me: Hi! It’s nice to see you again! What can I
get started for you? *smiling*
Customer:
