“On Saying Please” is a world-famous essay written by the English author and journalist Alfred George Gardiner. In “On Saying Please,” the author talks about the importance of respect and kindness towards others, and how to improve our language and include words like please and thank you in our vocabulary.
On Saying Please By A.G Gardiner
Summary of On Saying Please By A.G Gardiner
If we start saying “please” and “thank you” to people for their work, it has a positive effect on them and sometimes even makes their day. On the other hand, if we speak rudely to others, they feel disrespected, which can also spoil their mood.
The story of the essay begins with a young boy who works as an elevator worker in a city office. One day, the elevator worker throws a passenger out of his elevator, resulting in the company fining him for misbehaving with the passenger.
A passenger enters the elevator and asks the elevator worker to take him to the upper floor. The elevator worker asks him to speak politely and use the word “please.” The passenger refuses to use “please” and asks to be taken to the upper floor again. The elevator worker becomes angry and throws the passenger out of his elevator.
This entire incident occurred because of the word “please.” If the passenger had used the word “please” when giving the elevator a command, the elevator operator wouldn’t have become angry. Or even if the elevator operator had acknowledged the passenger’s misbehavior, this wouldn’t have happened.
We all must respect and obey the law because we can’t kick someone out of the elevator just because they didn’t say “please.” If we start fighting over trivial matters, there will be no peace in the world.
The author says that there are two types of problems in the world: one physical, like hitting someone, whose pain doesn’t last long; the other emotional, when someone attacks your self-esteem, and the pain lasts much longer than physical pain.
The passenger attacked the elevator operator’s self-esteem; if the elevator operator hadn’t pushed the passenger, he would have been thinking about it all day. Therefore, the elevator operator took out his anger on the passenger to ease his pain.
The author then uses examples to explain that sometimes we vent our anger on someone else. For example, our father is the head of our household, his boss scolds him at the office, the father can’t argue with his boss so he takes out his anger on the mother, the mother can’t argue with the father so she takes out her anger on the eldest son, and finally the eldest son takes out his anger on his younger brother. This way, frustration spreads from one person to another.
Our bad behaviors harm us more than our minor transgressions. And there’s no law for bad behavior. No law tells you to use the word “please” or smile. No law tells you to speak politely to others. Please and thank you are two small words, but if you start using them, it will make your life easier and more polite.
You can’t expect someone to speak well to you when you speak badly to them. On the other hand, if you speak politely to others, they will speak to you with even more politeness and respect. Simply put, the author wants us to speak politely and respectfully to others, no matter who they are.
The author now gives us another example, this time citing the famous English Romantic poet, William Wordsworth. The author says that if Wordsworth could learn from the poor leech gatherer, why can’t we learn from you and me? William Wordsworth has a famous poem, “The Leech Gatherer,” so our author is giving us the example of a leech gatherer. We should learn from others, no matter what their position. We can always learn something from someone.
Next, the author says that World War II has made people uncivilized. People used to be kind and polite, but now they distrust each other and don’t care about others’ feelings. Nowadays, almost everyone is bitter and corrupt, and there are very few polite and kind people in the world.
We must abandon our rudeness and cultivate humility and kindness again. Finally, the author advises the elevator man to speak politely to his passenger so that he feels embarrassed and realizes his mistake. This is because the elevator man has harmed himself by pushing the passenger.
If you had spoken politely to the passenger, you could have taken revenge. With your politeness and kindness, you could have shamed the passenger. “A polite person may lose material benefits, but spiritual victory always remains with him.”
Next, the author gives us the example of a bus conductor. The author says that if a bus conductor treats his passenger politely, it makes the passenger’s journey pleasant. On the other hand, the conductor’s rude behavior can ruin the passenger’s journey. Once, the author was traveling on a bus, but he realized that he had forgotten his money at home, so he told the conductor about it. The bus conductor didn’t mind and gave the author a ticket without any money.
A little while later, when the author searched his other pocket, he found money. He immediately gave the bus conductor the ticket money. This small act of kindness earned the author’s respect. The next day, the author happened to be traveling on the same bus, and this time, the conductor accidentally placed his shoes on the author’s feet, but he immediately apologized, which didn’t offend the author.