What Has Happened to our Polite Society?

  What happened to good old fashioned "Service with a Smile"?

I think the beginning of this Century will go down in History as the age of Rudeness.  

Matters seem to get worse by the day. P's and Q's hardly exist and has anyone recently received a Thank you note from any young person to whom you have sent a card or gift. There are a few exceptions, of course, but as a general rule, you are lucky if you get a one line email.

Just this week I have been ignored yet again when trying to pay for purchases at the check-out counter in my local supermarket, because the "lady" at the till happened to be having a long conversation with her friend at the next till. She could not be bothered to return my cheerful greeting, or to make eye contact with me. Not until I had said very loudly,  "Are you going to serve me, or should I call the manager?", did she deign to ring up the few items I had placed on the counter. She took my cash and handed me my change whilst starting up another conversation, this time with a packer.  I believe that this sort of behaviour is not uncommon. Many people on talk radio shows have commented on it.

Last week I had an appointment to see a doctor in a fairly large hospital. I arrived a little early, knowing I would have the usual forms to fill in as a new patient. On entering Reception, one lady behind the counter was eating a sandwich and had a mug of coffee in her hand, which she used, without a word, to point me towards the opposite counter.  The lady there was sucking a red lollipop, which she did not remove from her mouth for the entire time it took her to take my name and give me the necessary forms; to ask for my I.D. Book and Medical Aid card, which she took away to photocopy. She handed the items back to me with a "lollipop-in-mouth" smile, stick bobbing up and down and that, as the saying goes, was that.

Two weeks ago I was in a long queue at the Post Office. I counted 21 people, all waiting to be served.

There were five empty counters. One elderly lady asked whether there was a strike on, or if  their staff were off "sick"?  "No," came the reply, from the one and only person trying to get through all the customers, "They are all on tea".

"How can this be allowed? Where was the postmaster?", someone else asked.

"Gone out". Was the curt reply. And with that three of us walked out.

Have you noticed how no one returns calls these days?
How one is kept holding on for ages, only to be told that the person you need to speak to urgently, is in a meeting?
Is that all anyone does these days? Attend meetings and then NEVER return calls?

Shopping is no longer the  treat or a pleasant experience it was when I was young.  There is no one around to help you and if you should be lucky enough to find someone eventually, they are so disinterested, you almost feel sorry to have bothered them.

I could go on and on - rude drivers; inconsiderate cyclists; etc; etc. Perhaps I should end with one last piece.

On a recent trip to the Cinema, I asked for two seats near the back on the aisle.

"Sorry, I can't do that," said the young man serving me." I can give you 5 rows down."

I sighed and took the tickets, only to find, as the lights went down, that there were only 3 other patrons besides us, in the whole place! Takes the cake, doesn't it?

by
Rosemary Kahn

A visit to one of the world’s most magnificent gardens

A visit to one of the world’s most magnificent gardens.

(A place of historical interest.)

Written by Rosemary Kahn, Photographs by Deidi Gee

On the Eastern slope of the famous and majestic Table Mountain in Cape Town, there is a wonderful garden called Kirstenbosch. It is of world class botanical interest, open to all, cherished by thousands and the proud winner of many gold medals at the Chelsea Flower Show!

Although it is mid-winter here, it is a warm and sunny day, with the bluest of skies and no wind.  A perfect day for a walk .

The first curator of Kirstenbosch, Professor Harold Pearson, who trained at Kew, let the Garden develop naturally, to fit in with its surroundings, without formal landscape planning.  As always, I visit the Dell and Colonel Bird’s Bath first, built by him in 1811, in the shape of a bird, over a crystal clear spring. It is my favourite spot.  Here, on the steep slopes surrounding the spring, in the dappled shade of Tree Ferns, the famous Cycads, planted by Prof. Pearson grow, making this the heart of the Garden. It is hard to describe its beauty. There is a small cave and a waterfall and I sit for a while on a wooden bench, and listen to the sound of the water rushing over flat stepping stones.  It pools below the waterfall, overflows and becomes a stream which runs right through the Garden,  and eventually joins the Liesbeeck River.

I take the mountain pathway out of the Dell, and look towards the peak of Castle Rock as it stands guard over this area.  Here above the Dell,  the  Proteas are in bloom  and I watch several Cape sugarbirds collecting nectar. Winter is their breeding season.

Table Mountain, clothed in “green velvet”, with little streams forming silver ribbons in between its many folds and crevices, is a perfect back drop for the winter garden. I look down on a sea of red hot pokers and vast carpets of pink, white, orange and  yellow oxalis. Behind me are tall Silver trees, named for their leaves covered in silver hairs.

I pause in wonder, at the sight of the Great Lawn  below, with its sparkling lily pond and make my way to the Sundial at its upper end.  I reach it just before a group of school children, on a nature study outing. I brought many children here, during my teaching years, and just for fun, I read aloud the inscription on the dial.



                        Horas Signo                      I indicate the hours

                        Umbra Movente                By shadow moving

                        Flores Gigno                     I bring forth the flowers

                        Luce Fovente                    By sunlight nurtured.



I point out the time. The children check their watches to see if the sundial is correct!


I walk on down to the Avenue of old Oaks, their gnarled leafless branches waiting for Spring.  I look towards the mountain once more and  hear again, my three year old daughter’s words, as we stood beneath these trees, over 40 years ago.


“Mummy,” she said, clasping my hand to make sure she had my full attention. “This place is full of angels!”

And so it is.

Kirstenbosch, Cape Town

Kirstenbosch is a spectacularly beautiful Botanical Garden situated in Cape Town, South Africa.

Kirstenbosch has to be my most favourtie place - it is so peaceful and beautiful. I

I hope you enjoy these photo's as much as my family and I do.

Whether we look at the beauty of the individual flower,

A small group or family of flowers,

Or the magnificence of the bigger picture

The beauty in this Botanical Garden is everywhere to be found.