Archive for June, 2008
Manners
“Can I have another nut?” Tettie asks me, as we all sit around the garden table. She’s finished hers quickly. Her sisters sit quietly on either side, mouths still busy crunching away.
I look at her and raise one eyebrow, hoping my expression will be enough of a prompt. It isn’t.
I wait a moment longer then give in. “Ask nicely, please?”
“Please,” she immediately replies, which would have been sufficient until recently. But we’ve moved on now, and are trying to get please added to requests to start with, and so avoid this whole ritual of asking for a “please”.
“Uh-uh,” I counter. “All together.”
But instead of “Can I have another nut, please”, all three girls reply in unison:
“Pleeease!”
I should know by now that it’s not that easy.