On Saying Please is a world popular Essay written by English author and Journalist, Alfred George Gardiner. In “On Saying Please” author talks about the importance of being respectful and kind to others, and to do that we need to improve our language and add words like please and thank-you in our dictionary.
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 then it makes good impression on them and sometimes it can also make their day. On the other hand, if we talk with others in a rude way then it make them feel insulted which can also result in bad mood.
The story of essay begins with young boy who works in City office as a lift man. One day, lift man throw one passenger out from his lift due to which company charge him with fine as he misbehaved with passenger.
One passenger comes in lift and ask lift man to take him in top floor, lift man ask him to talk with him politely and use Please word. The Passenger denies to use Please word and again ask him to take him in top floor. Lift man gets angry and throw passenger out from his lift.
This whole incident happened because of word “Please’. If passenger would have used word “Please” while ordering Lift man then lift man doesn’t get angry on him. Or if lift man would have accepted passenger misbehavior then this also would not happen.
We all should respect and follows laws because we can’t throw someone out from the lift just because he does not use Please. If we start fighting for little-title things then there would be no peace in the world.
The writer says there are two types of problem exist in the world, one is physical like hitting someone whose pain doesn’t last longer, second is emotional when someone attacks on your self respect and its pain last longer much longer than physical pain.
The passenger attacked on self respect of Lift man, if lift man doesn’t push passenger away then he would keep thinking about this whole day. So that’s why lift man took out all his frustration on passenger to subside his pain.
Thereafter, writer tries to explain us by giving example that sometimes we took out our frustration on someone else. For example, Our father is a head of our house, his boss scolds him in office, father can’t argue with his boss so he took out his frustration on mother, as mother can’t argue with father so she took out her anger on her elder son and in the end, elder son took out his frustration on his younger brother. So this is how frustration flows from one person to other person.
Our bad manners give us more damage than our small crimes. And there is no law for bad manners. No laws ask you to use “Please” word and talks with smiley face. No laws ask you to talk with others politely. Please and thank you are two small words but if you start using these two words then it would make your life easy and filled with humbleness.
You can’t expect someone to talk with you nicely while you talk with them badly. On the other side, if you will talk with others in a polite way then they will talk to you with more politeness and respect. In simple words, writer wants us to talk with others politely and respectfully no matter who he is.
The writer give us one more example now, this time he give us an example of famous English Romance poet, William Wordsworth. The writer says if Wordsworth can learn from Poor Leech Gatherer then why we not you and me. There is a famous poem “The Leech Gatherer By William Wordsworth”, so that is why our writer is giving us an example of Leech Gatherer. We should learn from other people no matter in which position he is. We can always learn something from someone.
Thereafter, writer says World War has made people rude. The people used to be kind and polite but now people don’t trust each other and doesn’t care about others feelings. Almost everyone is sharp and corrupt nowadays there is very less polite and kind people in the world.
We must kill our rudeness and develop politeness & Kindness again. In end, writer gives advice to Lift man to talk with his passenger politely so that he feels embarrassment and realize his mistake. It is because by pushing passenger away, Lift man has caused harm to himself.
If you would have talk with passenger politely then you could have taken your revenge from him. Through your politeness and kindness you could have made passenger embarrassed. “The Polite may lose the material advantage but he always has the spiritual victory”.
Afterwards, writer gives us an example of Bus Conductor. The writer says if bus conductor behaves with his passenger politely then it makes passenger journey well. On the other side, bad behavior of bus conductor can make passenger journey goes in vain.
Once upon a time writer was travelling in bus but realizes that he forget his money in home so he tells bus conductor about it. The bus conductor does not mind and also gives ticket to writer for no money. After some time, when writer touches his second pocket he finds money in it so he immediately give his ticket money to bus conductor.
Through this small gesture of kindness, Bus conductor gain respect of writer. The next day writer travels in same bus by coincidence and this time conductor put his shoes in writer foot by mistake but he immediately apologize to writer. Through which writer does not mind.