What Are My Manners?
Sam Fisk
When I was six to eight years old, I decided that the best version of myself would basi - cally be an English gentleman that didn’t kick street orphans and sneer at foreigners. I al - ways gravitated toward the old British actors I saw on Star Wars and the Hammer Horror movies. They were charming, a little scary, and cool in a way that didn’t necessarily ask for attention.
I spent too much time considering when “You’re Welcome” or “No Problem” is the best reply to “Thank You.” I have embarrassed myself many times by opening a door for someone that was walking too slowly for them to notice that the door was being held open by somebody thirty feet away. Sometimes, they are not going to the same building as me at all. I put a lot of stock into good manners, even though I know that people can be evil and polite at the same time and some vulgar, rude people can have the most precious kindness. Sometimes though, people are polite because they are trying to be nice, and people swear at you because they hate you. Sometimes, in retrospect, I am ashamed to say, I hated them for the sole reason that they were there when I wanted to vent. Rather than take away any specific moral from a fairy tale, what the Brothers Grimm taught me was to not get too ahead of myself. Frogs can be princes, birds can be ghosts, a fish can be God, but until you have talked to them, best not to make assumptions.
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