What I See with Peter Fiorenza: Why respect is so important, and why it’s a shame not everyone believes that

One of the biggest themes of my teaching career has been respect — it’s at the core of everything I do. Maybe you think I’m a little too “old school” in the way that I measure or judge respect. What I mean is it’s often how respect is demonstrated or not demonstrated that I think is important. For instance, since as long as I can remember, I have always referred to my elders as Mr or Mrs. There are many times when certain individuals ask me to refrain and refer to them by their Christian name, but I find this very hard. In my formative years, manners were well and truly to the forefront, both at home and at the schools I attended. Recently, I was at a social event and I came across someone I used to teach more than 20 years ago. Her husband is a friend of mine. The first thing she said to me was, “Hello Mr Fiorenza, how are you?” Someone else in the group turned to me and said: “Gee, that was a sign of respect.” And I would say that it does happen often, and although sometimes it is a little embarrassing, it is very nice. Despite this, I also find that there are many incidences of people demonstrating a clear lack of respect in the way they handle things. Recently, my Mum rang me somewhat distressed. Like all mothers, Mum does phone on a regular basis. To see how I am, did I remember the Wildcats’ game was on TV, or could I pick up something from the shops on the way into town? But on this occasion, it was different. “Well, I’ve just had a good day out with my friend, and decided to grab some takeaway for dinner,” she explained. “But I’ve returned home with nothing, after being abused by the store manager.” Now, my mother is an 81-year-old pensioner. Why would someone in such a position abuse her? “Well, after ordering at the drive-through, I was asked to park up in the carpark, and they would bring my order out to me when it was ready,” she explained. Mum went on to say that she waited in the carpark for quite some time before someone came out with her order. “I really had no problem waiting, but when I checked the order, the box had been ripped open and part of the food inside was gone. It looked like someone had eaten part of it.” So, Mum went into the store and showed the person at the counter, who actually delivered the order, what she had received. “ Before I knew it, the manager was standing along side.” According to Mum, the manager told her she didn’t know what she was talking about and there was nothing wrong with the order. He then proceeded to abuse her. He told her she was a stupid f..... bitch and to get out of his store, or he would call the police. Others waiting for their orders, at the time, saw this all happen. After discussing it with my brother, we thought that taking it further, then and there, would probably make things worse. Even if my mother was not right about the order, and the person could be having a bad day, that is indeed no way to treat a senior citizen. Where’s the respect? Peter Fiorenza hosts Fiorenza on Sunday between 10am and noon on Radio MAMA