A couple of years ago, I had a classy Parsi man hold the car door open for me as I got in. And because I was the one driving, he also chided his friend- my male co passanger (and these are his words not mine) 'for getting a lady to drive you around everywhere'. I was impressed by this man. Chivalry was not dead indeed. But while it is overrated, I believe a simpler version of it needs to be ingrained in our everyday lives irrespective of gender or age: common courtesy.
Being polite to everyone, acknowledging the opinion of others, disposing one's own trays in fast food restaurants, letting children voice their opinions in every day decision making, holding the door for someone with their hands full... Small things that make the lives of our fellow human beings just that little bit easier. Often I find people with means not doing something as simple as segregating their wet and dry garbage at home because "What do we pay the cleaning staff for?" But one doesn't realise that just a tiny amount of extra effort by everyone can make someone else's work and life all the more efficient. Especially of those less privileged than us.
It's not easy since being aggressively self centred is often seen as an asset for an individual. On the other hand a courteous attitude is often misused by others. We need to break the militant compartmentalisation we have created. In the larger scheme of things it's what makes the world a better place.
P.S.: One can't be courteous enough!
2 comments:
Holding the door open for the person following you is one thing all of us Indians miserably fail at. And if a man opens door for a woman or vice versa, there's no harm but it shouldn't become a standard for non-comformists :)
Of course. Nothing should be a standard norm. Kindness and empathy come in many forms. Sometimes it can even be the act of *not* holding the door for someone that empowers them. One just needs to be slight more sensitive to others.
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