Dear Humans,

Yesterday I made ramen and I noticed the flavoring packet said, “Please tear along this line.” And I thought how nice it was for my ramen to ask nicely. I mean, if my foil chicken flavor pouch can use “please” and “thank you,” then surely we all can as well.

“Please” and “thank you” is important because, at least for a while, it puts us on equal footing. We each have our own unique lives. We have different numbers on our pay stubs, different cars in our driveway, and different kinds of peanut butter in our pantry.

But good manners gives us common ground. At least for a while. At least long enough to perform some simple task of humanity such as getting our lunch from the cafeteria line, paying for our groceries at the store, or getting new tags on our license plates.

So thank you for the manners reminder, ramen noodle flavor packet. I’ll try not to slurp my soup.

Sincerely,

Mr. Curt