I have been a little irritated, from time to time, to tell the truth, that my grandchildren rarely say "please" when they make a request. To be fair, a "please" does come out every now and then, but there is no reliability factor there!
I am betting that lots of people in my age group also assume that "please" and "thank you" are supposed to be conversational standards. It was not until I read a column by Choire Sicha in The New York Times that I learned that not saying "please" is actually a "thing."
Here is how Sicha so succintly puts it in "Oh Please Stop Saying Please":
Here is how Sicha so succintly puts it in "Oh Please Stop Saying Please":
"Please" is done.
You can check out Sicha's report by clicking the link. Based on what he says, I am going to try to tamp down my grumpiness!
In the meantime, may I offer a suggestion from my father? He very seriously informed his children that the following phrase has an almost magical ability to produce the requested result, when asking for a favor. I have found, through the years, that it does work for me!
If "please" is out of fashion, I am suggesting the following, as an efficacious replacement:
And here is a deferred "thank you" to my father for yet another piece of good advice!
In the meantime, may I offer a suggestion from my father? He very seriously informed his children that the following phrase has an almost magical ability to produce the requested result, when asking for a favor. I have found, through the years, that it does work for me!
If "please" is out of fashion, I am suggesting the following, as an efficacious replacement:
"Would you be willing to....?"
And here is a deferred "thank you" to my father for yet another piece of good advice!
Image Credit:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/20/business/ghosting-your-job.html
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