Between Us

It's a common complaint that our era ignores politeness. Perhaps the fault lies in the hectic lives we lead. People jostle in the subways and buses. No one has the time, as in the past, to indulge in bows, compliments, and greetings. We no longer have the sense of nuance in courtesy, like that host who, welcoming a cardinal, a duchess, and an old childhood friend to his table, found an appropriate formula for each of his guests.

—Will His Eminence, he would say to the first, deign to accept some turbot?

—Will Madame la Duchesse, he would say to the second, do me the favor of accepting some turbot?

—Finally, to the old friend sitting at the head of the table, he would say a laconic: Turbot?

However, when one exaggerates refinements, one quickly descends into ridicule. In the eighteenth century, there lived in Rome an original and facetious clergyman, well known in the city for his eccentricities. To satirize hierarchical formalities, he covered his head with three hats, which fitted perfectly into one another.
When he met a simple monsignor, he greeted him with his right hand, raising the first hat. If it was a bishop, he raised the first hat with his right hand and the second with his left. Finally, if he encountered a cardinal, he first raised the first two hats as if for a bishop, then, pulling a string that passed under his robe and was attached to his foot, he raised the front part of the third headdress.
No, let us not regret this era of exaggeration! But let us simply remember Voltaire's advice:
«Politeness is to the mind
What grace is to the face!»

Life is always easier, more pleasant also, between courteous people.