This Friday is National Courtesy Day. This is an initiative of the excellent Campaign for Courtesy founded in 1986 by Ian Gregory, a Congregational minister in Stoke on Trent who saw that the writing on the wall was turning into graffiti.

It is a campaign that would have been unnecessary during our grandparents' lives but which sadly becomes ever more relevant and necessary.

Cllr David Cox championed the cause of good manners during his term of office as chairman of Wycombe District Council five years ago; and when WDC received a certificate of merit award from the Campaign, he commented: "A smile, kindly act or a pleasant disposition is so infectious and is a disease' well worth becoming epidemic."

And he was right. The fact that a polite child, a smiling shop assistant or friendly public servant is today so unexpected and welcome as to make it worthy of comment underlines the fact that an initiative to restore the good old-fashioned values of courtesy and good manners is long overdue.

Successive governments have intoned about family values, maybe for different and vote catching reasons, but at least even they realise the benefit to all of us of a return to the values of a simpler and more considerate world.

I heard a couple of years ago of an adult figure of some authority who roundly criticised a teenager for holding a door open for her, on the basis that she was perfectly capable of doing that for herself. What kind of message was that to give out?

And I read recently of a man who held open the door for a young woman behind him. He was taken aback when, with a withering look, she informed him "There's no need to patronise me by holding open the door." Gently, he told her, "I'm holding it open for my mother, not you." The girl looked around, puzzled, and said "But there's no-one else here !" Right" he replied. "But you see, my mother taught me always to have respect for others and to show good manners. So I'm doing this for her." And, with a smile, he went on his way.

It only took one generation of overindulging parenting to wreak the havoc. Somewhere between "being seen and not heard" and being obscene and all too clearly heard lies a happy medium. And it is closer to the former than the latter.

Watch out for your smiling, friendly columnist opening a door for you in Wycombe this week!