Minding your manners

Sir, – Margaret Heffernan’s refreshingly candid Q&A in Weekend, (“I would take potential hires to lunch to see how they treat people serving them,” January 3rd) was a particularly invigorating tonic for the New Year. It evoked, for me, Coco Chanel’s maxim that “fashion changes but style endures”.

Courtesy and manners are essential extensions to one’s personal style and character. Manners and intellect are the true markers of style. Politeness and manners are an excellent way of putting others at ease.

Saying “thank you for your attention” and/or “I appreciate your service” are two significant gifts that we can give to those individuals who meet, greet and attend us in shops, service stations, post offices and many other face to face consumer settings.

For 2026, I would like to see an end to the invidious virus of entitlement, the belief that one is inherently deserving of privilege, special treatment or, quite simply, service.