POLITENESS
I was always brought up to say please and thank-you,
Never be bossy or rude, try to be good everyday through.
It was wrong to be a bully, or to show off in any way,
This world was a much better place, I’d venture to say.

We still had our big bullies and folks who were rude,
Even some who stooped low enough to be quite crude,
But even these people nearly always thank you and place
And most of them were polite in some varying degrees.

Now you see many educated children as rude as can be,
Please and thank you are not found in their vocabulary ,
They chew bubble gum in church and splat it in their face,
And the way some girls sit around is a terrible disgrace.

Politeness, to me, covers our dress standards as well,
Some girls dress as if themselves they want to sell,
I’m sure it’s not true but a wrong statement they do make,
Do they stop to think what they’re doing for goodness sake?

I want some ice cream right now, and some candies too,
If this was said in our home, no goodies ever came through.
There nearly always seems a lack of gratitude for things received,
If you mention offering thanks, most youth seemed to be grieved.

They think they have a right to everything, or so it seems to me,
They laugh you to scorn if they know you offer prayers to deity,
I pray that politeness and true gratitude will soon come back,
So that please and thank you our sentences will never lack.

M Ann Margetson April 25, 2002