The Empty Coffee Pot in the break room… The cardboard tube dangling from the toilet paper holder, left untended and unchanged by the one who made it bare. An empty milk carton placed back in the fridge, or one with just the tiniest trickle of milk left in the bottom. How about those people who look at a pregnant woman getting on a bus with no seats, and refuse to share that seat with them? Common Courtesy day is your opportunity to refocus on your own common courtesy, as well as encouraging them in others.
History of Common Courtesy Day
Let’s face it, common courtesy has never been as ‘common’ as some people would have us believe. However, with every passing generation the previous is certain that common courtesy is just fading from the world altogether. Truly the aged look back upon the past with rose-tinted glasses, and their vision is perhaps imperfect as a result. However, there is only one thing that can truly bring about the golden age of courtesy we all claim existed ‘when I was your age’, and that is the raising of awareness of common courtesy as a thing necessary to a world.
Such is the reason that Common Courtesy Day came into existence, so that we can all spread the gospel of courtesy that we feel the world should contain. At the end of the day, that’s what it’s all about isn’t it? The day that we finally see common courtesy becoming truly common is the day that we exhibit it ourselves and thus pass it on as a concept to others. Though make no mistake, common courtesy is sometimes not common as a result of the details of what constitutes ‘common courtesy’ changing from region to region, and country to country. Perhaps the truth of the matter is that common courtesy isn’t common simply because there is no universal baseline.
How to celebrate Common Courtesy Day
It’s quite simple really, whatever your concept of common courtesy is, use Common Courtesy Day to embody it. Take extra pains to be aware of how you treat those around you, and even those who may come long after you’ve departed. After all, it’s unlikely that the next person to use the restroom is going to be standing next to you at the moment that the toilet paper runs out. The person who’s running a little late may not have time to brew a new pot of coffee in the breakroom, and that little bit of comfort may be the thing that makes a bad day a good one. Common Courtesy Day is your opportunity to start being the change in the world you wish to see.
