Honesty, Courtesy and Manners!

Are Honesty, Courtesy and Manners a thing of the past?

Last month at 12:30 am, we were sitting at a Red Light on the way home from the New England Patriots game and the car in front of us had their right blinker on but was not taking an allowed right on red turn. My son said this was a honking moment and we had a short discussion about when to honk and when you can take that legal right on red. We did not honk, we sat and waited until strangely, just before the light turned green they decided to go.

It got me thinking about Honesty, Courtesy and Manners. We all work hard to teach these virtues to our children. But our society as a whole is impatient and does not display these attributes as often as they should. Today my associate and I began to walk across a street when we should have waited. We simply were not paying proper attention. A nice driver, stopped and waved us on. But we insisted that she go because we were wrong and she had a green light. But it was nice to receive that wave as opposed to a large HONK!

Then I was reading articles on-line and discovered one about shipping errors. What should you do if you order a package and pay for the item.  A few days later you get 2 in the mail. You check your credit card and have only paid for 1.  The rules say that you can keep it but should you. This law was made to prevent companies from sending you unsolicited items and then forcing you to pay for them. This was a scam that some companies used. Many recipients assumed that someone in their household had ordered the item and paid the invoice. So now the law states that the item is yours. The Federal Trade Commission recommends that you notify the company of their error and your right to keep it. Then what you do is based on their response and your choice.

Last Winter, My husband and I went shopping at Dick’s Sporting Goods and found a great deal on a new winter jacket. They did not have his size but were happy to order one for us and send it directly to our home. So the first Jacket arrived and over a week later a second Jacket was delivered. We talked about what to do and how we could keep it but just felt it wasn’t right so we went to Dick’s and returned it. The store clerks were surprised that were returning the coat because it would probably have gone unnoticed.

Until I read this article I never gave it another thought.

Money Matters

http://lifehacker.com/5969021/what-should-i-do-when-a-company-makes-a-mistake-in-my-favor?

There are times that the error should be reported and you cannot keep the proceeds. And times when the error is likely to be discovered so you need to proceed with caution. For example, if you deposit a check and it is credited to your account twice.  This error is likely to be detected by the bank and they are entitled to take the extra money back…so be careful not to spend it. I was given an extra $20 bill by a bank machine once. I got a notice in the mail later saying that the machine had inadvertently given me and extra $20 and my bank account was being debited to account for the error.

Money Mistakes

We as parents are always teaching our children manners. To say Please and Thank You and to open doors for people etc. These are traits that will always be appreciated and recognized. Maybe not every time you do them but over the course of your life…they say…what goes around comes around. People will smile at you when you have smiled at them and people will surprise you with acts of kindness because you have chosen to do something for them at some point whether it was big or small. Important or just nice:)