“We owe each other truth and courtesy – though truth is sometimes a real constraint and courtesy inconvenient.” ~ Max De Pree
Just call me “Rip Van Christine.” I’ve been asleep for 20 years. Well…not really, but I was raising my children, spending my time on the family and home. Now that my children are well adjusted and away at college, I decided to enter the business world. I can assuredly say that things have most definitely changed in the last 20 years – and I’m not just talking about technology. What am I talking about? What I see as a lack of professional or common courtesy in the business arena. More specifically, when a company or individual issues “no response” to someone that has taken the time and effort to reach out to them.
I am amazed at the amount of letters, emails and phone calls that go unanswered. In the world I grew up in, it was common courtesy to respond if someone took the time to contact you. At the very least, an acknowledgement of some sort should be sent. What has happened to our society that we throw someone’s hard work and effort into the trash without even an acknowledgement? I’m sure there are so many of you out there that know exactly what I am talking about or can relate. (Please feel free to share your experiences in the comment section of this post.) Let me ask you, “How long does it take to answer an email that someone has written you?” Possibly one minute or so? Maybe I just don’t understand human nature today as much as I think I do. Thank goodness this doesn’t happen 100 percent of the time. There are some exceptional people out there who bend over backwards to help. They should be commended. Common courtesy is good etiquette and it is important we show by example to our children. If our children turn out lacking common courtesy, we have no one to blame but ourselves. If we don’t practice it in our own lives and don’t teach our children to be courteous, how can we expect the next generation to do otherwise? We must remember that our children are very much what we make them.
A friend of mine told me her son applied to countless jobs. He took the time to fill out the applications, only to hear back from one company (Ace Hardware) saying that they would keep his application on file if something turned up. Only ONE company had the decency to respond to this young adult who spent countless hours filling out tedious job applications! What is company protocol today? They probably have someone read the applications, select a few candidates, and then toss the rest in the garbage. All the while, the young adult is anxiously waiting some kind of response which never comes. It is good public relations to respond to each applicant. It is a poor reflection of the person or the company who doesn’t devote the time to acknowledging the efforts of others. Can you blame our younger generation for being disillusioned? It’s no wonder our younger generation have taken to the streets in protest (Occupy Wallstreet)…
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| Occupy Wallstreet |
“Ask and it shall be given you; seek and ye shall find; knock and it shall be opened unto you.” ~ Matthew 7:7
So I guess I shouldn’t be expecting a response to my correspondence. However, I won’t let this deter me. In the art of life, we must be self-starters. We cannot wait for a golden ticket to arrive in a candy bar. We must learn by our misfortunes and figure out a way to preserve and be proactive. So…I will keep on trucking. My hope is my friend’s son will do the same…..
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2 comments:
I am in total agreement with your RANT. Our children learn from example. Sometimes we succeed in producing courteous, caring children and sometimes we don't, but we need to always try. My husband was a manager for many years, and was always hiring people. He had to sift through countless applications, and always responded to each and every one, even those that were "nos".
I agree it is not courteous to ignore someone's efforts. We should all try to be aware of one another's feelings. That being said, other people's actions are not under our control, and to "permit" them to anger ar disillusion us is giving away even more of ourselves than they took in the first place :)
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