Reminder for New England Shoppers About Holiday Manners

It's that time of year, we are all out shopping for gifts as well as for good bargains. Black Friday sales and other holiday sales are already in full force and therefore stores are starting to get busier than usual.

Now, I love a good bargain just as much as the next person, but the holiday shopping crowds can be a bit much. I mean it was only a few months ago when I went shopping and was thanked for saying "excuse me" to someone. I was told that I was the nicest person in the store that they witnessed that day.

We do not need another story like that. So, as you go shopping over the next couple of months at Marden's, the Maine Mall, or the Fox Run Mall, there are a few things that you need to remember.

We were all raised with manners, use them! "Please," "Thank You," and "Excuse Me," all really are not hard things to say. Yes, at times we are in a rush, but it's really 1-2 words, it will not take up that much time.

As the stores get crowded, go into a store expecting the lines to be long. Do not get upset that you now have to wait 10-15 minutes to purchase something. I get it, it can be annoying if you are going into a store for something quick, but it's just that time of year.

I shouldn't have to really say anymore, but I feel that I have to.

Watch out for other people in the store, I'm sure that you use a shopping cart. Use the rules of the road when driving one of those! Don't hit someone with your cart, and if you do, use those manners that we talked about earlier. When leaving an aisle, check to see if anyone is coming before you take a turn.

Don't leave the store a mess, you may scramble around to try to find one item in particular, but you're not the one that has to clean everything up. Don't make the workers' lives hard. In the same sense, do not get upset at the people that ring up your items, they are simply just doing their job.

It's one of the happiest times of the year, let's keep it that way and show each other some common decency while out shopping.