Graceless

 I gave blood on Thursday. Let the reader understand that I only do this for the chocolate biscuit after the donation is over, and for the strict injunction before I leave that no housework should be done, no, not even light dusting, for the next six months.......dream on. 

The donor-carer assigned to me was a disappointment. Efficient, yes, but no 'please', no 'thank you; in her her instructions. Just, 'do this', 'do that'. It jarred. 

Please and thank-you are such simple words. We teach them as one of the first things a child should learn. We call it 'manners'- the manner in which things should be said. They are a mark of a civilised and courteous human. But they can also be viewed as a sign of grace by the hearer. 

I've given blood many times, and sensitive donor-carers are attuned to the small details which settle the person in front of them into a good experience; the small talk, the 'please' the 'thank you', the gentleness with which an arm is handled. It casts an air of grace over the proceedings.

'Little things done with great love' as Mother Teresa said.