After years of living in the adulting world, I think I’ve come to a realization: Manners exist to guide you to good conduct even when you’re in a bad mood.
When you’re happy, when you’re feeling generous, when you’re pleased with your gift or your service or your outcome, it’s easy to be nice. It’s easy to tip the waiter well when you’ve had a good day. It’s easy to thank the teller or the clerk when you got what you wanted out of the transaction. It’s easy to smile and chit-chat with strangers on the road when you’re in a good mood.
It’s hard to tip the waiter when you didn’t enjoy your food. It’s hard to thank the clerk for their time when you’ve just been told there’s a problem with their account and they weren’t able to fix it for you. It’s hard to think of something nice to say when your aunt gave you a crappy sweater you neither need nor want. It’s hard to be nice to people when you’ve had a shitty day. It’s HARD.
That’s what manners are for. Scripts and phrases that you learn by rote to say when you can’t think of a single nice or good thing to say from your own volition. Yes, they’re scripted. Yes, the sentiment is empty. But the scripts work in every situation, and the emptiness provides a buffer between your own unhappiness and the rest of society.
Because most of the time, it’s not the waiter’s fault that the food you ordered wasn’t what you expected. It’s not the clerk’s fault that your account is overdrawn. It’s not the fault of the barista or the stranger on the subway that you got fired today or your favorite aunt died. But even when you can’t summon a smile or a cheery word, you can still have manners, because they will serve you the same in sunshine or rain.
This is very wise and very well put.
lazypartridge reblogged this from dangerousalone 
anxiousflyfox liked this feet-up reblogged this from dangerousalone
roshytsunami reblogged this from dangerousalone dangerousalone reblogged this from nudityandnerdery
sugarpinkrose liked this kaleidoscopicskunk reblogged this from firetinasty
idontlikepans liked this mycroft-valentine reblogged this from ir0n-angel
ir0n-angel reblogged this from crackinglamb jaykitsune reblogged this from f-identity
f-identity reblogged this from bravinto
bisamwiseual reblogged this from relucant - bisamwiseual liked this
quinticprisms reblogged this from sorrelchestnut
julyhurricanes reblogged this from mlkpuffs
shuzhen liked this 
friendthing liked this schehar-zade liked this
danutosan liked this moordrydpaynn liked this
kunikida liked this 
thuner liked this 
seafoampup reblogged this from mlkpuffs - seafoampup liked this
whiplashfrommoodswings reblogged this from irenabean
lacuna-of-light reblogged this from sorrelchestnut sapphosarchive reblogged this from shadesoflulu
l2adical reblogged this from mlkpuffs hereisalicia liked this
thelove1yclub reblogged this from mlkpuffs avakining liked this
hyunyawol reblogged this from shadesoflulu 
jheoni liked this 
dayofthegreatenigma reblogged this from shadesoflulu - dayofthegreatenigma liked this
mikkeneko posted this
- Show more notes