Courtesies - Holding the door for the person behind you

Walking through a door to enter into an office for an official assignment may be foremost on your mind to the extent that you are oblivious to the people around you. Whatever your mission and however urgent it may be, a public place requires due consideration for the other people in close proximity to you.

In this article, the discussion is centred on the process of walking through a door. A scenario would be Mr A wanting to enter a Bank to withdraw funds from his account. He is probably preoccupied with the transaction ahead and may not notice the people ahead of him or behind him.  If you walk through a swing door with the mindset just described, the likelihood is that you will just push the door, get in and walk off to the presence of the nearest cashier. However, if you are only concerned with what you are about to do in the bank, you may not fully realise that the simple process of handling a door well may leave a good or bad impression of you.

If anyone walks through a swing door without thinking of the next person on the line, it is very possible that the door would swing back with full force and may hit someone else in the face. This unfortunate 'someone else' would be the man or woman who happens to be standing behind you. This means your simple indifference to the person behind you may result in the door slamming shut on their face or even hitting the person.  Sadly a door does not discriminate who it hits in the face so it may be the chairman of the company or the sweet lady who works at reception that bears the brunt of your indifference.

The lesson here is to always hold the door for the person coming behind you. This applies to both male and female; it is a simple courtesy that transcends gender, age or social status. It is applicable to everyone.

Most people do not go out planning to be rude, nasty or to hurt people around them. However, our actions speak a completely different language and indict us even when we mean no harm. This makes it incumbent on us all to make the effort to be considerate to people around us. As this discussion relates to doors, the lesson here is to never assume there is no one behind you when you approach a door.

In fact it is best to assume there is someone coming behind you and hold the door for them. If it turns out that there is no one close to you then you can safely let go of the door knowing that no one would get hurt.

The converse to the above is to assume there is nobody behind you and allow the door to return to its original position only to discover that it has swung its full weight and shut in the face of your work colleague. If you are not very lucky, it may be in the face of the company chairman or your interviewer who will decide if you are to be given the job.

The need to form the right habit cannot be overestimated. When it becomes second nature to you, it would not matter who is behind you as you would do it by rote. This is the place where everyone of us must seek to reach. The place is where we do the right things habitually.

Remember that doing things right would differentiate you and set you on the path of promotion. Here are few tips regarding dealing with doors at home, in the work place and everywhere else you come across a door:

• ·         As you walk through a door, think of the person behind you.
• ·         You need more than a thought though, you need to consider them and act accordingly.
• ·         Acting accordingly means holding the door with one hand as you pass through the door.
• ·         The above should not affect your passage, or increase the time spent at the door.
• ·         You are not required to hold the door open for all to pass through except this is your job.
• ·         If you are a gentleman, you may find it in order to open the door to allow a lady to go through   first.

 We all benefit when we do things right!