“All doors open to courtesy.”
(Thomas Fuller)

I went to a baseball game recently, and my seat was on the aisle. While this was convenient when I wanted food or drink, it also meant I was the de facto doorkeeper to the whole row when people needed to reach their inner seats.

I was happy to do this, but at the risk of sounding like an old curmudgeon, I was appalled at a couple of young people’s behavior.

One young woman seemed terrified to even ask me to stand up and let her in. She turned her back to me and started to shuffle her way in.

A older teen boy was worse. He simply stood in the aisle and looked at me, with an expectant entitlement. Perhaps he wishes he could’ve just swiped me aside like an unappealing Tinder profile.

I know…I’m sounding really old fashioned right now. But in our virtual world of screens, basic human courtesy is no longer common.

Do your kids know how to meet, greet, ask, converse, beg the pardon of, and shake the hands of strangers?

It’s never too early, or too late, to start.

Peace begins with pause,