The late great Alabama football coach Bear Bryant once made an observation always worth remembering: “It doesn’t cost anything to be nice to people.”

This comes to mind because one of our writers recently visited a Florida based DME to purchase CPAP related equipment. The sale went through, the equipment was purchased, the mission was accomplished… Or was it?

The writer will never purchase from that particular DME again. Why? Because he said basic manners were missing from that provider. The phones were ringing and the sales person kept him waiting while answering them. In the end the sale was made, but it was made in a hurry. And worst of all, our writer reports no one ever thanked him for his business, no one welcomed him to that store, no one ever said “Please, may I help you?”

One of my English teachers once suggested that the three most important words in the English language might well be “Please” and “Thank you.” Yet she noted a sense that they were becoming archaic in our vocabulary.

It costs nothing to say “Please” and it costs nothing to say “Thank You.” Yet more and more, it’s hard not to notice that people around us are frequently forgetting to say those simple words. Perhaps it is because our lives are so stressful and busy today that many of us forget basic manners under pressure. Perhaps in the electronic age of tweeting, instant messaging, Facebook alerts, etc., saying “Please” and “Thank you” is becoming a lost art.

But no one should forget them. Good manners will make you appear grateful and can help you in many other ways. If someone does something for you and you then make them feel good about it, they are going to be much more inclined to want to do it again.

I would be remiss if I didn’t end this call for more politeness without expressing gratitude of my own. Thank you for helping us to make our OxyGo POCs and our other oxygen products #1 best-sellers in the homecare market. We are grateful for your support and please know we never take it for granted.