Gimme Gimme Gimme!

It astounds me how some folks respond to offers of freebies. From time to time, I put on ad on Craigslist in which I offer a piece of office equipment, furniture, or something else that might be of use to someone. There are plenty of people who politely ask for it, which is nice to see. But inevitably more than a few respondents simply say, "Give it to me!"Although this issue falls in the realm of etiquette rather than ethics, the take-home message is the same: if you treat others respectfully, you're more likely to get what you want.I reminded here of the first line of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby:  "In my younger and more venerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since.  'Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone,' he told me, 'just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had.'"It's a point well worth remembering.  Not everyone has been taught good manners.  Perhaps The Berenstain Bears Get the Gimmies by Stan Berenstain and Jan Berenstain should be required reading in every public and private school in this country.  We'll never completely eliminate the gimmies.  But the widespread adoption of this delightful book would go a long way toward reducing that dreadful, all-too-common malady.