Do not be too Fond of Hearing Yourself Talk; Learn to Listen as well.
One evening Minnie sat at the table preparing her lessons. Her father and mother, with an aunt who had called to see them, were seated at the hearth.
In a little while Minnie found that she required a book from the bookcase, which stood in a recess to the left of the fireplace, so she rose from the table, and, without speaking a word, walked in =front= of her aunt and in =front= of her father to reach the book. Her aunt looked up in astonishment, and her father exclaimed: "Minnie, how =rude= you are!"
Why was Minnie rude? Because she did not say "Excuse me, please," both to her aunt and her father. We ought =not= to go in front of any one, if we can by any means avoid it; but, if it is impossible to get behind, we must never forget to say those little words which Minnie so rudely forgot.
A gentleman was travelling in a railway train, and, as there was no one else in the carriage, he placed his portmanteau and other luggage on the rack =opposite= to where he sat instead of overhead.
At the next station several people entered the carriage, and, when the gentleman wanted to get out, he was obliged to reach up in front of the people sitting opposite to get his luggage. But he did not forget to say, "Excuse me, please".
When Passing in Front of others, or when Reaching in Front, always say "Excuse me, please".
I was talking to a lady one day, and not happening to hear something that I said, she exclaimed in a loud voice, "=What?=" I was as much astonished as Minnie's aunt was in Story Lesson 111, and quite forgot what I had intended to say next. What should the lady have said? She should have said, "I beg your pardon". Perhaps she had forgotten herself just that one time.
Suppose you are sitting at table next to mother, who is pouring the tea; perhaps there is no bread and butter near enough for her to reach, and you do not notice that her plate is empty. She is obliged to ask you to pass her something, and as you do so you feel sorry that you have not done it =without= being asked, and you say, "I beg your pardon, mother". Some people leave out the "=I=," and say "Beg your pardon," or "Beg pardon," but the proper words are, "I beg your pardon".