..of courtesy and appreciation….

You may well ask me, ‘why pick such a topic?’ I’m not quite sure myself, but I guess it may be because I am exposed to all sorts of characters in my profession then sometimes you begin to compare and contrast the many facade of characters you see every day .

Generally, we still get the usual morning greetings along the corridor, in the lift and even the sidewalks outside the building. The occasional ‘thank you’s and ‘hello’s , and ‘how are you’s and ‘hi’s ---are still coming. And indeed it is a pleasure (and  has always been) , to give or receive such greetings.  

This morning I started thinking of words which can be related to the title of this posting. I have compiled and listed a few which were taken from www.dictionary .com. Look for the similarities and if anything, it would at least help the members of this community to expand their vocabulaer :-

Main Entry: decency
Part of Speech: noun
Definition: respectable behavior
Synonyms: appropriateness, ceremoniousness, civility, conventionality, correctness, courtesy, decorum, dignity, etiquette, fitness, fittingness, formality, good form, good manners, honesty, modesty, propriety, respectability, righteousness, seemliness, virtue 
Antonyms: immodesty, immorality, impropriety, indecency, obsceneness, obscenity

Main Entry: courtesy
Part of Speech: noun
Definition: good manners
Synonyms: address, affability, amenities, amiability, attentiveness, ceremony, chivalry, civility, comity, complaisance, consideration, cordiality, courteousness, courtliness, cultivation, culture, deference, elegance, familiarity, favor, friendliness, gallantness, gallantry, generosity, geniality, gentleness, good behavior, good breeding, graciousness, indulgence, kindness, polish, politeness, refinement, respect, reverence, solicitude, suavity, sympathy, tact, thoughtfulness, urbanity 
Antonyms: bad manners, discourtesy, impoliteness, pompousness, rudeness, unmannerliness

Main Entry: etiquette
Part of Speech: noun
Definition: manners, politeness
Synonyms: amenities, civility, code, convention, courtesy, customs, decency, decorum, deportment, dignity, form, formalities, good behavior, mores, p's and q's, politesse, proper behavior, propriety, protocol, rules, seemliness, social graces, suavities, usage 
Antonyms: bad manners

Main Entry: protocol
Part of Speech: noun
Definition: rules of conduct, behavior in certain situation
Synonyms: agreement, code, compact, concordat, contract, conventions, courtesy, covenant, custom, decorum, etiquette, formalities, good form, manners, obligation, order, p's and q's, pact, politesse, propriety, treaty 
Antonyms: bad manners, crudeness, impropriety

Main Entry: decency
Part of Speech: noun
Definition: Conformity to recognized standards, as of conduct or appearance.
Synonyms: comeliness, correctness, decentness, decorousness, properness, propriety, respectability, respectableness, seemliness

Main Entry: manner
Part of Speech: noun
Definition: Socially correct behavior.
Synonyms: decorum, good form, mores, propriety, 

I know of a student who had to repeat the ENG 511 and he had to repeat a semester just to do the paper. And that time around, he showed how serious he was with his project paper. Regular meeting showed his perseverance and honesty and I gave him all the help he needed.

Before the actual presentation, he had to go back to his hometown and I arranged a special session just for him and immediately chased him out of college to be with his family in his hometown.

A few days later, I received a mail from him , thanking me for everything. That mail was never expected and gave him a long reply which he truly deserved.

There are students , funnily from CDDS ( not for anything else but the fact that I only teach a few classes in this programme as my bulk was from CBDS and CCSS) , who dropped in to say their farewell before they left for their OJTs. Its not that lecturers asked for these, but these gestures should be spomtaneous and self-initiated. I’m glad to see this value still exist among the young.

My youngest daughter takes a lift from me every day to the Deng Wangi Station, and every day, without fail, she would thank me after the ‘salam’. The lift was never taken for granted by her. It would be the same everytime she leaves my car , after sending her to the clinic and so on.There were a few other examples of courtesy displayed. 

Of course there were those on the opposite side where courtesy and decency were totally ignored or void , not that these were expected, but this  reflect ourselves and ........... 

But the goodness that I continually  see among the others more than makes up for all the lack of the above attributes and I just hope the future augers well for all of us. Yes -- lets hope gratitude, decency, courtesy and others will ptevail - for all times.

Oh well, my two-cents worth---so much for this……