Name: Ashley Ang Jia Qin

IC: 050427120155

Class: 4E

“The Golden Rule”

Courtesy. A word so abstract due to the multitude of cultures in our world manifests itself in a
myriad of traditions and customs that differ from person to person, yet we all have unanimously
agreed that courtesy is a pillar of proper etiquette as proven by the famous quote “courtesy costs
nothing but buys everything”. But what is courtesy? Some may consider it a given. A given that
we treat who we consider a stranger, friend or even a loved one with a degree of respect and
politeness. But to me, I say courtesy is based on one thing – the Golden Rule.

“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”

I believe there is value in all our actions. You may have heard of the saying “our eyes are the
windows to our souls” or maybe you’ve heard of the phrase popularized by the famous movie
Kingsman – “manners maketh man”. The similarity between these phrases is that what we do,
how we act, how we interact with the people around us may or may not bring about either
consequences or benefits. Such outcomes could be materialistic, they could also affect our
personal relationships, or they could affect another person as a whole. But I digress. In short, our
actions all carry the effect of causality. Whether it be good or bad, is up to the person in question.

Which brings me to question. Why is showing courtesy, an action that can be as simple as
passing the salt to a person across the table, capable of allowing one to be immediately placed in
another’s good graces? This brings me back to the Golden Rule. The idea of it is that we should
treat others the way we wish to be treated in return. It comes off as no surprise that each and
every one of us owns a modicum of pride, it does not have to be in an egotistical sense, but
instead it is the minimum amount of self-respect every human has, and when we communicate
with a person, it is all the more natural that they would respond with enmity should we attempt to
insult their pride, similar to how we would not take kind to someone attempting to sully ours.

To help solidify our understanding, let’s imagine a scenario together. You’ve been invited to a
wedding, so you prepare your finest dress or suit, you pay more attention to your appearances,
you make sure that you are presentable. And when you arrive at the venue of the wedding, you
give your best wishes, perhaps even a gift, and if you are seated with the bride and groom, you
may even propose a toast! These are courtesies that we have to adopted over centuries.

Take another scenario for example, but this time, you are on the receiving end. You are a
newly hired office worker, and you have queries about the role and responsibilities you must
fulfill, and so you send a message containing your questions to your superior, to which they reply
in detail and care. This, too, is a courtesy that should be upheld by anyone in a leading position.

What effect does it carry? Taking the wedding scenario, while we may not receive anything
materialistic, we instead are able to form a close bond with the bride and groom, and perhaps
even with the other attendees that we mix and mingle with. Likewise, in the rookie worker
scenario, it is more than likely that having a superior who provides advice that is both concise
and in a caring manner will undeniably affect our performance for the better.

On the other hand, what if we responded or were met with hostility? Well, it’s plain as day
that the outcome would be a negative response from the receiving party. A simple gesture, word
or even inaction is all it would take to come off as pretentious and rude. Especially in this era
where unfiltered and biased opinions exist like mosquitoes in a swamp on the Internet. It is till
the point where having courtesy on the Internet could be considered as an idiosyncrasy.
Rudeness begets rudeness, the pretentious attract the pretentious, with the copious amounts of
negative posts on social media platforms, the comment threads that follow are anything but
polite, wrought with equally if not worse contents filled to the brim with coarse language.

Thus, I once again reiterate my point, courtesy is based on the Golden Rule. Bluntly put – a
give and take relationship. If we reply to one’s action of goodwill in kind, it will only incline
them to reciprocate in the same spirit in the future. Conversely, if we reply with animosity, it will
attract anything but hospitality.
 But this still does not explain how or why courtesy “buys everything”. Well, as stated before,
all our actions have value in them. But their perceived values could differ greatly based on who
receives it and when do they receive it. Taking for example whenever you come back from work,
your loved one is always there to greet your return, but let’s say you’ve had a frustrating day,
receiving a heartfelt “welcome home” could mean much more to you than receiving it on a
regular day. As you have valued their action highly, it is only natural you’d cherish that moment
dearly even though it is but a simple greeting. And as these occurrences build up overtime, you
may have the urge to “buy them everything”

On that note, I believe we can all understand how courtesy is metaphorically a beacon of light,
a glaring factor that causes others to create assumptions of us consciously or unconsciously. And
so, I implore those who read this to adopt courtesy. Not just as a formality but as a way of life.
To create a utopia that has only been spoken of in theory and fantasies, courtesy is irrefutably a
pivotal role as it plays a part in all societies at its core.

(1000 words)