One of the ultimate sins for a human is to be rude. Right? Nothing is worse than someone who takes their fellow man for granted. The easiest way to fix this problem?

Please and thank you. You would be surprised how incredibly poignant these few words can be! Here’s my first “for instance.”A harried mother walks into an ice-cream parlor.

She is carrying her three year old who has been whining and screaming, so obviously there is an air of desperation around the whole “get me the ice cream and no one gets hurt” face.

Walking up to the lovely ice cream lady – or man, she gently asks the child to ask the vendor for a cone. The child, who has been well trained, says in a sweet falsetto, “may I please have a chocolate ice cream cone, please?”

The vendor, enchanted, gives the kid two scoops for the price of one. Behind the now grinning babe is a snarky teenage boy with his girlfriend. Trying to look cool he says, “Two chocolates, and make it quick”. Obviously, the vendor has no reason to be nice, since he wasn’t. Now the teen has small cones. Heh.

Have I convinced your sensibilities? It becomes easier for people to fall into the habit of please and thank you if they were raised that way, but it can be adopted with relative ease.

The most effective way of making it stick is seeing how much more pliable people are to your evil will if they think you are polite. For instance, sitting in a restaurant with your charming date (who hopefully chews with his/her mouth closed), the waitress comes over to take your order. You order with grace, “I’ll have a large juicy steak with the mashed potatoes please! And may I please have some of those yummy rolls? Thank you so much”.

The waitress smiles and nods, while writing your order. She turns to your date and poses the same question. “Steak”. What a jerk.

Sure, you both will get your food… but there are no promises your dates has not been spat upon.