Knock. Knock. May I come in?



My parents taught me a few good manners. On second thoughts, they tried in vain to teach me a lot of good manners and I learnt a few. Respect your elders, Don't lie etc. I don't recollect them trying to teach me to respect privacy of others. Their omission or my selective listening was not a catastrophe until now.

I never knock on a door before I am entering any room in my house. Growing up in a joint family means you can walk into any room without knocking. If whoever in the room wants privacy, they better lock the door. Then my gentle response was banging on the door. When we moved to another city, the apartment was so small that there were no doors to knock. When we moved from that little apartment, I was studying in a distant city and very soon was wandering around in the name of employment. The need for knocking never arose. Now, I'm older and have a family. But I still do not knock.

This weekend, I moved into a new apartment in Paris and I regret not learning this habit earlier in the first few hours of living here. I am sharing the apartment with another friend of mine. The apartment is excellent in a Parisian sort of way. Wooden floors, giant windows, a bath and a separate toilet. It is perfect for expatriates living like bachelors. But there is one hitch. The toilet do not have a lock. Yes, a few hours here and I wish I had learnt the good habit of knocking.

Good habits. However silly it might sound to you, please try to impart them to your kids. You can't imagine at present the real life scenarios where it will come in handy.

Tags: Musings,Knock,Manners,Paris

Comments

  1. Lockless in Europe? That reminds me of a certain holiday I took!

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  2. @Aparna - he he. I remember you commenting about this when I blogged about the glass windows in Sayaji hotel.

    @Harish - Yes, unpleasant it was.

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  3. Too bad. However, there are people who don't bother to lock even when there is lock on the bathroom door, they just keep the door closed.

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  4. Never too late to learn ....lol !
    btw ,congratulations on finding the apartment.

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  5. lock-less toilet?!! oopssss
    what a way to learn the importance of "knocking"! haha

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  6. @Rama - :) Yes, I heard about this lot.

    @Kavita - :) Thank you.

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  7. @Sujatha Sathya - Yes Yes! the learning never stops!

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  8. @nc ... finally u ack it ... u have no clue how many times i would have cursed you (in my mind ofcourse), for this habit of yours >:P

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  9. @Laks - You mean the banging on the door or the barging in without knocking? Also, please refer to the "selective listening" part. The same applies to all sensory perceptions. :p

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  10. haha Lockless in Europe...good post buddy as usual

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  11. You seemed have learnt a lesson! Good one :)

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  12. @Ramesh - Thanks. :)

    @Vijay Menon - Thanks for dropping by. Yes, I learnt a "valuable" lesson. ;)

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  13. What u r saying is true.I heard about these situations in my friend's joint families.Well written!.

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  14. @BonAppetit - Thanks for dropping by. This is a lousy system to have in a joint family.

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  15. haha. Yes, always knock. But these no lock bathroom doors are really a problem. They should provide a 'do not disturb' sign....

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  16. @Radha - :) We were thinking of Occupied/Vacant sign.

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  17. How about loud singing when you are inside!

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  18. @Purba - Thanks for dropping by. Singing is a good option. Now, the consensus is on an alternate solution - play loud music on the phone while inside. :)

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