Let's talk manners.

The world is so messed up; we are all driven by intelligence, power and money that no one gives a shit about being polite and nice. This is so pathetic. The rich look down on the poor, and the smart to laugh at the less than them. What happened to the world?

"Please" and "Thank you" are indeed the magic words. It's powerful but used rarely. I thought it was common courtesy but apparently, it is not. Use "Please" when asking for a favour and say "Thank you" when you receive something nice, compliments, favour, presents or anything nice, just say "Thank you"! Be considerate to others and think before you let any words escape that pretty little mouth of yours. 

What's worse? Taking the effort to rush down to a rendezvous and realise your date is late, super late or to have your plans cancel just right before you're about to step out of your house? Both are equally bad. Unless it happened too unexpectedly that you didn't have time to inform, if not people should have the courtesy to at least inform if plans need to be cancelled or postponed.

Handphones, we hold them more dearly than our lives. Why? Can we actually leave our phones at home and spend a day outside without it? We use our handphones while waiting for the bus, crossing the road, in boring lectures and even when we're with our friends. I can't deny I don't do that because I am guilty of it, sometimes. Handphones should be forbidden on dining tables; so many times I just sit around and watch my friends use their handphones instead of making real conversations. It has become a habit to reply messages/emails immediately no matter where we are or what we are doing. I can understand if it's emergency/important but I just want to say it is rude. The worst will be when someone is talking to you, updating you on what's going on in their lives and you're not even looking at them in the face. Your handphone screen is reflecting the lights in your eyes.

Multitasking, can you? Let's not stereotype and say which gender is better at it. We all can if we try hard enough. I urge you not to try though, it's actually hurtful to know you're not given full attention and people are just trying to juggle between you and something else. To talk on the phone is no longer a common thing to do but we still do it every now and then. Struggling to do something else, while talking on the headphone, is one of the most common scenes we see. Trying to cook dinner, while yapping off on the phone; perfecting the right eyeliner, with the phone on loudspeaker or just watching the TV while randomly mumbling, "Ohhhh! Ya. I get what you mean. I agree. Hmmm. “I don't work well with divided attention. I can only talk to 1 person at a time and if I'm trying to do my eyeliner, it's best you believe I'm no longer listening to you. If I'm cooking my dinner and talking to you at the same time, I think I'll end up ordering Domino's.

Your half attention given can hurt a lot of people, resulting in them thinking they're not important. You have 24 hours a day, 8 hours to sleep, 6 hours of mundane stuff like showering, getting ready, toileting and travelling etc, you still have 10 hours. 5 hours for meals and catching up with friends/colleagues with real conversation, you still have 5 hours to work with, which usually is work, school and all the daily routine etc. I hardly ever tell my friends I'm too busy to meet or talk. 2 hours of travelling back and fro, I usually read or talk to people I care. I do not understand why some people can be too busy to even get back to you. On weeks when my schedule is very tight, I always offer to reschedule, trying to squeeze you in and give you half attention is something I never do unless you insist on have that time slot. 24 hours a day and a total of 8,760 hours a year, I still don't get why you need to split your attention. Aren't they worth just 1 hour of your time?

Manners are not something you can just have within 1 day, it is usually built up since young and parents play an important role. Kids will mirror you, be mindful of what you do when you're around them. The world is so messed up; they focus more on education and career than manners and moral. I'm not sure who's more messed up, the kids who do it despite knowing it's rude/wrong or parents that don't give a shit about what their kids do.

"After you", 2 simple words but so beautiful, it will always be my favourite.