We are not sure what it is, maybe it is the climb of the cost of living, but from all appearances Guyanese citizens seem to be in what is known as a ‘bad mood’ all the time.
There are seldom any friendly smiles on the faces of those who walk down the streets; instead, if there isn’t a frown then the expressions on the faces are so serious it appears as they were frozen into position. Then persons answering the telephones make you feel as if you are irritating them by dialling the numbers as they snap at you instead of talking. There is hardly ever the ‘good morning, may I help you?’, no, rather it is “May I help you?” and it is asked in such a tone that you feel as if you are being told to just shut up and hang up the telephone.
And it appears as if `please’ and `thank you’ have become expensive commodities because they are hardly ever used anymore. One may think that for every `please’ or `thank you’ a person uses they are made to pay for it so to avoid that extra cost they skimp on it or forget about using those ‘magic words’ all together. It’s as if they do not understand how much those words can make a situation much easier for them in their everyday lives. A simple `please’ or `thank you’ can make a lot of difference as it may make someone attend to you much faster in public. Or what about just using it and making someone’s day? You may be the only mannerly person they encountered for the day and it may very well put them in a good mood and lift their spirits.
It is as if the ‘war on bad manners’ that was launched a few years back has left no impact on society. Now mind you, it was because of the ‘manners-less’ society that the powers that be launched the campaign in the first place. But we would be bold enough to say that the situation has gotten much worse now. Drivers do not allow the elderly and children to cross the roads and of course the other pedestrians who can offer some assistance to those in need to cross the road cannot take the time of the day to do so. And then there are those pedestrians who feel that they own the roads. They just walk out in front of a vehicle and should they not be allowed to cross they would address the ‘errant’ driver with some expletives among other adjectives.
Let’s not even get into how a prospective customer is treated when they enter a store or a restaurant since they are handled as if they are begging a favour even though they are paying good money. The customer most times is forced to stand up like a lost person before they are approached or worse yet when they approach any of the employees they are not answered right away or rudely. It is as if, and we said it before, persons are just in permanent ‘bad moods’. The same thing happens when you walk into a government office or any office as a matter of fact. In fact, we had worse experiences with these officers in terms of standing around looking stupid because when you say morning or good afternoon no one answers and no one comes to attend to you until they feel like it.
So it makes us wonder why is it people are so unfriendly and unhelpful? We know the cost of living has gone up and many of us just have the everyday stress of life to deal with. But as many would have said before, being pleasant can make life a lot easier for a person. A smile, a thank you, a please and any other pleasantries can make your day much better. Snapping at persons and just being plain unkind and grumpy would never improve a bad day, many of us can attest to this. There is this ubiquitous saying that Guyanese are friendly persons but our manners are slipping away bit by bit. Maybe we are keeping it for the foreigners instead of the locals and that is not nice at all. As they say ‘charity begins at home’ and you would make a much bigger impact if you are friendly to your fellow countrymen and women.
We live in Guyana and we know it is not always easy but why not just smile and give your face a rest. It is worth sometimes more than a million dollars because that smile or act of kindness may help someone to look at life differently. Take it from us; it is worth much, much more to be kind to someone than to be unkind, (thescene@stabroeknews.com).
