With the incline of Social Media there has been a decline in social interaction. Due to the lack of human interface, I would argue that there has been a notable decline in common courtesy. Being a decent human being is not as difficult as society might have you think. These three simple strategies could help increase public civility.

Let people exit before you enter:

It is shocking to me that this isn’t common sense, but so often do I find myself trying to exit an elevator, public transit, or simply a room while simultaneously being bombarded by impatient persons trying to enter the same space.

Let’s use the elevator as our prime example. Does it really make sense to walk on to a full elevator once it’s landed on the floor that those passengers wish to exit? I would argue that it does not.

In my opinion the most logical and efficient approach is to let those patrons first exit to their desired floor, then enter. The reasoning behind my rational is that if you enter before they exit you prolong the interaction for everyone.

Not only do you force them to squeeze past you, but now you have to wait for them to exit the elevator regardless, so that you may press the button to your floor. You can save a lot of time and energy by simply waiting the thirty seconds it takes one to exit.

Please and thank you:

This is one of the first things we learn (or should be learning) as children. You are not entitled to anything in this life apart from death. With that being said when the person in front of you holds the door open a little longer so that you may walk through with ease it is your moral obligation to thank them. Where you might not have asked them to, the door being held open for you is still a privilege and not a right.

On the opposite side of that, when you do outright ask someone for a favor you should always be gracious and be sure to add please as they are not obligated to help you.

Gratitude goes a long way and a simple please and thank you can brighten someone’s day.

When someone makes a mistake tell them and not the world:

So often people take pleasure in the misfortune of others. If someone has lipstick on their teeth or a bat in the cave people are more incline to tell their friends rather than to alert the person so that they can fix the issue.

This topic goes so much deeper than just physical appearance. If your co-worker is consistently making a mistake, communicate to them in a respectable way how they can correct their actions.

Telling the other 15 people you work with the problem instead of the person doing it robs them of the chance to correct their behavior, and creates an isolated and hostile work environment.

Gossip is a stable and poison embedded within society. Let’s try and do better and allow people to grow before we ridicule them for something that can easily be fixed.