How to Use Your Turn Signals or When Common Courtesy isn’t so Common by Jon Searles

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	How to Use Your Turn Signals or When Common Courtesy isn’t so Common
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	Submitted Sunday, June 17, 2007
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Some parts of the country call them blinkers. They are the turn signals that are standard on all cars, trucks, and other road vehicles. There is a right side and a left side hooked to lights in the front and rear of your vehicle and they signal your intention when driving. Normally the control lever is on the left side of the steering wheel column. When flipped to the up position the drivers behind you and in the intersection in front of you are signaled of your intention to turn right. When flipped down your intention is left. The best part about the signals is that on most turns they return to the center position so you only have to make one easy motion to turn them on. When you become very good with them, you can lightly touch them up and down to signal lane changes on major highways and roads. If you put them in the full up and down position and forget to move them back to the center after your lane change you will be signaling your very slow turn around the world.

The reason for this lesson is based on common courtesy. A good driver uses his or her signals as a courtesy to other drivers. They are improving road safety and letting others know they care about those around them. Unfortunately, many have been unable or unwilling to learn this basic courtesy and one wonders if this translates into other areas of their life. There are two Lexus sedans in my neighborhood and I have intelligently discerned that these luxury car drivers can be excused because their cars apparently do not come with turn signals or they are prematurely broken and need to be the focus of a factory recall.

When I was in high school I remembered the courtesy lessons given by my mother. When a friend’s aunt came to visit our school to speak I promptly moved forward to open the door for her. She took the unattended door, ignoring my gesture. My friend told me she was a “women’s lib" advocate and did not require a male to show her any preferential treatment. I told my friend’s aunt I would have opened the door for her even if she was my friend’s uncle.

I was always taught that there was always time for courtesy. Mom would always tell us to mind “our please and thank yous". We knew that if we did not my brother, sister, and I would face her wrath, but that is another article involving discipline. Please do not confuse courtesy and good manners with weakness. We all realize there are times to stand up for your rights and give your opinion which at times does not appear courteous, but imagine a day to day with everyone sharing courteousness with those they do not know. Opening a door, allowing someone to go before you in line, helping someone with their groceries, stopping to help change a flat tire, or just smiling at someone that needs it are all basic courtesy moves that we need to reinforce. Just teaching children to respect those older than they are is an important lesson in manners.

I used to quip that the reason the back of Wal-Mart employees blue smocks say “May I Help You" in large yellow letters was because most were incapable of actually saying those words without prompting. Yes, I was put to shame by many Wal-Mart employees who still know how to be helpful and polite without the flash card on the back of their vest. Who has not walked into a place of business, up to a sales counter and stood there waiting for a set of employees to finish their conversation? Waiting patiently you allow them to finish their talk and then they look at you as if you are interrupting them and say in a less than welcoming voice “May I help you?". Courteous speech can definitely be a function of tone of voice and body language.

One wonders if common courtesy is no longer as common as it once was in these United States . Because of societal problems and negative cultural changes courtesy is under attack. Smiling at strangers sometimes elicits an odd look from them as they wonder what your intentions may be. You may stop to help a young lady load some heavy groceries into her car and she has to watch you warily to make sure you are not the man she heard about on the evening news the night before that scammed or attacked someone in a parking lot. You see a young boy walking in a severe rain storm and you want to offer him a ride home, but yet you would tell your child not to get in a car with strangers. Have some of these types of issues soured you on being more courteous?

Unfortunately, as we go through our daily lives and are victims of impolite people we may tend to share the earlier experience of impoliteness with a new person that crosses our path later in our day. Most of the time, like respect, one must give courtesy to receive it, and yes in your effort to be polite, you may not always be the recipient of a reciprocal sentiment. We may feel that showing simple courtesy opens us up to others who have no interest in sharing in a respectful courteous exchange. Why would you allow the attitude of discourteous people affect your attitude or approach to others?

Whatever your opinion on courtesy and sharing your light and joy with others other than a general disdain and melancholy demeanor, please start your road to expanding your courteous interaction with others by using your turn signals.

And from me to each of you, thank you for taking your time to read this article.

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» left by JL from US (2 years 140 days ago.)

I agree with you 100%. Just this afternoon I had to wait for a nurse to finish a personal conversation with her friend to ask for pain medication for my husband. Yes, she was on duty and yes, I will be letting the administration know. It is sad when even paying them won't prompt them to be courteous.

» left by Anonymous (2 years 139 days ago.)

Thank you for saying what so many of us are thinking. It's so true. In fact, I think the lack of courtesy in our society has led to the failure to use turn signals on two fronts: not only a lack of concern, but also the knowledge that if you use your turn signal, the guy behind you in the lane you're turning into will actually speed up to prevent you from coming into the lane. (I've been forced to miss my exit this way.) So now there is the stealth tactic of not telling him so he doesn't have an opportunity to be discourteous! :D (And yes, I still continue to use my turn signal unless the street is empty. Usually.)

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