Common Courtesy

I noticed today when I called Microsoft's automated activation line that I had no problem hanging up mid-action (Yes I call the activation line on a fairly frequent basis).  There is no point saying "please" or "thank you" because it has no effect and really feels funny to try to be courteous to a machine.  It reminded me of all the times I have been frustrated because the phone menu takes me is circles (especially any phone company) and it becomes nearly impossible to actually talk to a person. If I have the patience to wait the extended time (the most I have ever waited is 45 minutes), listening to the "your call is very important to us, please wait for the next available representative",  courtesy becomes forced. Not only does it mean that an unfeeling, unthinking machine is "helping" you, you are placed on hold for extended periods of time without the courtesy of hearing a real breathing person who should be able to understand more than mono-syllable pre-programmed machine who does not care if you are on hold, hang up, or speak rudely to it.  With this I realized that courtesy is becoming a lost art, starting with the phone.