An issue has been on my mind lately. It caused me to read 2 books. The first was
Protocol Matters by Sandra Boswell. The second was Positively Outrageous Service by Scott Gross. Both books should be read by homeschooling parents, students, and others as well.
Boswell's book discusses the effect that lack of manners (etiquette, protocol) has on a person, a family, and a society. She points out that protocol (how to act in every situation) is basically knowing how to show respect to others, both individually and corporately, in a way that is appreciated.
Gross' book discusses how customer service, or the lack of it, seriously effects businesses. He points out that, prior to 1965, his book couldn't even have been written as the vast majority of businesses practiced what he's preaching anyway. Those that didn't, didn't stay in business. Now, we have a whole generation or more who have never truly seen amazing customer service.
The connection between the two books is that both have to do with respect for others. Boswell's book tells us to respect each person and each group, and then she shows us how to do so. Gross' book essentially says businesses should respect their customers a great deal, and then he shows us how to do so.
Numerous times in the last month, I have been in businesses where the individual was treated as an interruption to the workers' day. The workers had forgotten that the business existed for the customers. Without customers, they did not have a job.
As a part of this educational experience I oversee, I have noted of late that many of our students do not practice proper protocol. Believing in its importance, I scheduled a guest expert, Mrs. Joan Exley, to teach a class on this topic. She gave me the following quote: "Just a dozen selfless players, who keep quiet when they score, give credit to others when they pitch a shut-out, or pass rather than shoot could help things. I don’t mind the constant therapy of the coverage— the personal interest story of the athlete who lost his mother during training, who conquered polio as a child, or who saved a little boy from a surging stream—but it does not make up for the absence of manners and sportsmanship." Victor David Hanson
In the current situation our society is enduring which is so much worse than a difficult sports game, I believe that practicing good manners may well be one of the primary ways we survive the traumas of our society's predicaments. Nothing can replace knowing how to show respect to those around us. The dictionary defines respect as showing the value of an individual.
When I was growing up, I was taught that respect was what acted as the lubrication to keep friction of relationships and hard life from rubbing each other raw. When life gets tough, the burdens we bear can weigh heavy. If those around us treat us with respect, that is, they treat us in a way that shows our value, then whatever is happening seems just a shade easier to bear.
So, what is the value of an individual? The value of something is that which others are willing to pay for it. For example, the value of a book might be $20 because, at $20, most people will buy it. If you raised the price to $25, and now no one will buy it, the book's value is less than $25. Again, so what is the value of an individual person?
Well, we look at the price someone is willing to pay for that person. God was willing to pay infinity for each individual person. Jesus was the currency used. Jesus, as God, is worth an infinite amount. By paying $Jesus for a person, the Father said that person was of infinite worth to Him.
So how do you treat someone whom God has decided is of infinite worth? I take an incident from today. I was watching a show on TV when a canary yellow Lamborghini appeared, my dream car. Caught off guard, my heart jumped a beat. Oh, I sighed. Nobody in the scene even leaned on that car. And they only touched its door handles. They even stood a little taller near it. They knew its worth, around $200,000. {I told my daughter that it would cost me more.... I'd need to hire a person to stow me into the car and get me out after I was at my destination. Then there would be the cost of his/her used car that followed me around so he/she would be there when I arrived. I digress.} The point is that even the people in the program showed respect for that car, and it was only worth $200,000.
A person is worth an infinite amount of money. $Jesus, so to speak. How do I treat that person with respect? How do I show them that I understand that I know that they were worth Jesus' life? One good way is to use societal customs that show I value their time, their health, and their spirit. These customs, collected together, are the etiquette or protocol of our society. It is vitally important to learn that etiquette so that we might all survive what is ahead.
When encountering others, I cannot make comments that show them less respect than I would show Jesus. I cannot dress or act in ways that mean they don't count. I should talk in a way that shows I respect their values and their interests, even when I disagree with them.
As a customer, that means I should endeavor to meet them on time and in a manner that says they are my focus and that I am there to make their life better, which is my function after all. Yet, I know I've failed in these areas over the last few years especially. Distractions and decisions were like grease on my glasses, keeping me from treating each person involved in our school with the full respect due them as individuals of infinite worth. For that, I am sorry and I apologize to anyone who may have felt like they were interrupting me from more important business. You are my important business. I hope you will forgive me.
My husband has an interesting habit. As a church elder, he is often called upon to go up front and pray for individuals. What he does ahead of time is that he goes and washes his hands. He told me it serves as a reminder to him that, when he touches any part of the Bride of Christ, he better do so with clean hands and a clean heart because she is of infinite worth to God.
May we all learn to esteem and show respect for that which God has chosen to value, all the members of His bride. And, since we do not yet know who all the members may be, that means treating every person with due respect by using proper manners and etiquette.
May your week be unexpectedly delightful as you feel His love all around you.
Protocol Matters by Sandra Boswell. The second was Positively Outrageous Service by Scott Gross. Both books should be read by homeschooling parents, students, and others as well.
Boswell's book discusses the effect that lack of manners (etiquette, protocol) has on a person, a family, and a society. She points out that protocol (how to act in every situation) is basically knowing how to show respect to others, both individually and corporately, in a way that is appreciated.
Gross' book discusses how customer service, or the lack of it, seriously effects businesses. He points out that, prior to 1965, his book couldn't even have been written as the vast majority of businesses practiced what he's preaching anyway. Those that didn't, didn't stay in business. Now, we have a whole generation or more who have never truly seen amazing customer service.
The connection between the two books is that both have to do with respect for others. Boswell's book tells us to respect each person and each group, and then she shows us how to do so. Gross' book essentially says businesses should respect their customers a great deal, and then he shows us how to do so.
Numerous times in the last month, I have been in businesses where the individual was treated as an interruption to the workers' day. The workers had forgotten that the business existed for the customers. Without customers, they did not have a job.
As a part of this educational experience I oversee, I have noted of late that many of our students do not practice proper protocol. Believing in its importance, I scheduled a guest expert, Mrs. Joan Exley, to teach a class on this topic. She gave me the following quote: "Just a dozen selfless players, who keep quiet when they score, give credit to others when they pitch a shut-out, or pass rather than shoot could help things. I don’t mind the constant therapy of the coverage— the personal interest story of the athlete who lost his mother during training, who conquered polio as a child, or who saved a little boy from a surging stream—but it does not make up for the absence of manners and sportsmanship." Victor David Hanson
In the current situation our society is enduring which is so much worse than a difficult sports game, I believe that practicing good manners may well be one of the primary ways we survive the traumas of our society's predicaments. Nothing can replace knowing how to show respect to those around us. The dictionary defines respect as showing the value of an individual.
When I was growing up, I was taught that respect was what acted as the lubrication to keep friction of relationships and hard life from rubbing each other raw. When life gets tough, the burdens we bear can weigh heavy. If those around us treat us with respect, that is, they treat us in a way that shows our value, then whatever is happening seems just a shade easier to bear.
So, what is the value of an individual? The value of something is that which others are willing to pay for it. For example, the value of a book might be $20 because, at $20, most people will buy it. If you raised the price to $25, and now no one will buy it, the book's value is less than $25. Again, so what is the value of an individual person?
Well, we look at the price someone is willing to pay for that person. God was willing to pay infinity for each individual person. Jesus was the currency used. Jesus, as God, is worth an infinite amount. By paying $Jesus for a person, the Father said that person was of infinite worth to Him.
So how do you treat someone whom God has decided is of infinite worth? I take an incident from today. I was watching a show on TV when a canary yellow Lamborghini appeared, my dream car. Caught off guard, my heart jumped a beat. Oh, I sighed. Nobody in the scene even leaned on that car. And they only touched its door handles. They even stood a little taller near it. They knew its worth, around $200,000. {I told my daughter that it would cost me more.... I'd need to hire a person to stow me into the car and get me out after I was at my destination. Then there would be the cost of his/her used car that followed me around so he/she would be there when I arrived. I digress.} The point is that even the people in the program showed respect for that car, and it was only worth $200,000.
A person is worth an infinite amount of money. $Jesus, so to speak. How do I treat that person with respect? How do I show them that I understand that I know that they were worth Jesus' life? One good way is to use societal customs that show I value their time, their health, and their spirit. These customs, collected together, are the etiquette or protocol of our society. It is vitally important to learn that etiquette so that we might all survive what is ahead.
When encountering others, I cannot make comments that show them less respect than I would show Jesus. I cannot dress or act in ways that mean they don't count. I should talk in a way that shows I respect their values and their interests, even when I disagree with them.
As a customer, that means I should endeavor to meet them on time and in a manner that says they are my focus and that I am there to make their life better, which is my function after all. Yet, I know I've failed in these areas over the last few years especially. Distractions and decisions were like grease on my glasses, keeping me from treating each person involved in our school with the full respect due them as individuals of infinite worth. For that, I am sorry and I apologize to anyone who may have felt like they were interrupting me from more important business. You are my important business. I hope you will forgive me.
My husband has an interesting habit. As a church elder, he is often called upon to go up front and pray for individuals. What he does ahead of time is that he goes and washes his hands. He told me it serves as a reminder to him that, when he touches any part of the Bride of Christ, he better do so with clean hands and a clean heart because she is of infinite worth to God.
May we all learn to esteem and show respect for that which God has chosen to value, all the members of His bride. And, since we do not yet know who all the members may be, that means treating every person with due respect by using proper manners and etiquette.
May your week be unexpectedly delightful as you feel His love all around you.
