response to "please read this story, thank you

Central argument: Over time, through the metamorphosis of our language, we have become more rude and impolite in the way in which we answer to people.

I disagree with Linton week’s central argument that people are becoming ruder as time passes by. As with any language, English too has transformed and morphed by several hundred years of speaking to what it is today. From the Elizabethan era, or the writings of Shakespeare, to modern English like what is used in hip-hop songs like those of Eminem, our language has changed but the meaning and thoughts implied by those same set of words remain intact. As Margaret Lacey said “Lacey notes that people can be polite without trotting out the traditional niceties… She doesn't expect people to utter the same old same olds” As time goes by thank thee, thank you and no problem still all mean the same thing, they represent the same sentiment and imply the same things.

"At the grocery store cafe down the street, I go get a coffee every morning," Lacey says. "This morning I walked in and they said, 'Good morning, will you have the usual?' I smiled and said, 'Yes, please.' They asked me how my morning had been while making my coffee. On the way out the door they said, 'Enjoy. See you tomorrow.' " Many can relate to the same scenario, you still walk out of that café with the satisfaction of having been asked how your day was. As our language changes, so do our ways of thanking, appreciating and complementing. The change from, Good morning to you mister to what’s up bro, still mea the same exact thing.

“Etiquette and courtesy encompass two interrelated and essential components: principles and manners. "The principles of respect, consideration and honesty are universal and timeless." But "manners change over time and from culture to culture." Basically, if the magic words “please”, “thank you” , and “your welcome” are going out of fashion it doesn’t mean that people are becoming ruder over time. The principles of respect, consideration and honesty are more important than the actual words that are used to express them. If a person says “your welcome” and if a person says “no problem”, the implied sentiment is still the same and is still received by the listener the same way it was received a hundred years ago.

As time goes by, and as our vernacular changes the way we say certain things may change, but the meaning of what is implied will remain the same. Different cultures and different people express their gratitude and appreciation in different, and unique ways. Just because they show a certain expression differently, doesn’t mean that the way the positive expression is perceived has changed. The level of rudeness or politeness at which we stand today, is the same level at which we stood a hundred years ago, its just that the way of expressing those emotions has changed.