Please and Perceptions

Please and Perceptions

Please is a word that several of my friends have moaned is going out of style and usage. Well, they actually say something more like ‘no one ever says Please any more’ – and I totally beg to differ! Maybe the word itself isn’t always used, but Please still exists in my world. A lot of the time, it comes across in tone, body language, or a combination of the two. Many of my students use the word quite often. They also use thank you and you’re welcome. Please still exists, and is easily taught. The most effective way to do so is to model its usage. I think that goes for any result we want.

I believe I have said before that I’m Proudly in Public education. I have a terrific job, and am lucky to work in an elementary school (students ages five to ten or eleven). I get to be in on the Primary education for these, our future leaders. I know that not all of them have the easiest home lives, and some are more likely to hear ‘shut up’ than ‘Please’ – but those kiddos still know the word and how to use it. In fact, those students seem to take to using it more readily than some of the others. I wonder if this is because they can feel the impact of that simple word when used appropriately. I know that it’s a ‘thing’ to say older generations sit around and complain about younger generations and how they have it so easy and are lazy, rude and such – sorry, generalization, but I have heard it a great deal. I, however, disagree. Yes, there are those who are like this – but they can be found at any age, in all kinds of circumstances. Both ends of the spectrum can be found if you look.

At work, I have students in all grades who are rather demanding and come across as rude, so I help them learn how to Politely address someone – I first wrote an adult, but really it benefits working with any age, since people deserve manners. At the same time, I have quite a few students whose manners are wonderful; then the rest are somewhere in between (weird, right?). My point is that they all know how to use Please and other manners, and are constantly receiving gentle guidance as to when and where to use it. My students – even when they drive me bananas – give me such great hope for the future. On the days when I feel down and really tired, hearing a student use the word Please (especially when speaking to a despised ‘enemy’ as happened recently with one of my students)…hearing that term used, well, it makes me happy and grateful that people are still teaching their kids these manners. Are the kids perfect? Nope, thank goodness. I’d be really worried about Pod People if they were – and my students are many wonderful things, and I’m glad perfect is not one of them. They are caring, compassionate, hard-working, intelligent, unique, wonderful individuals who I hope will continue to grow after they leave our school. I want them to achieve their dreams and move mountains in their chosen field.  I want them to go where no one expects them to go, and for them to help make this world an even more amazing place. Using the word Please simply helps them pave the way to their goals, and I hope they realize that.

Perception

I had a discussion with a coworker today about Perception, and how individual Perceptions of a specific instance can completely color the resulting observations. I don’t think I came across as this being a bad thing – I hope not, since I think it’s great. If we all thought the same way, had the same experiences, and followed the same Path, I think it would be overdone, boring, and quite crowded. 

Our histories make up ur points-of-view to a great extent as they shape us and our views of the world. Take a couple of people and toss them into a situation and observe their reactions. A great deal of those reactions will be based on the point-of-views from which the individuals encounter the situation. A young child will see things much differently than an elderly individual. Different aspects of our lives and very beings will color our Perceptions and how we do and view things. Does that mean we can’t get along, since some of us are so vastly different? Nope. It just means that we then have a terrific opportunity to see things from another Perspective, opening our horizons and making the world a better place through what we learned from that experience.

Please have a fantastic day.

Thank you,

J