“Civility,” wrote the 18th-century English aristocrat and writer Mary Wortley Montagu, “costs nothing and buys everything.”

It's a good message for anyone, especially for those who live and do business in Washington, where a little civility goes a long way. The term has surfaced a lot this past month since the horrific Jan. 8 shooting rampage in Tucson, Ariz. Days later, in a speech honoring the shooting victims, President Barack Obama said “only a more civil and honest public discourse can help us face up to the challenges of our nation in a way that would make them proud.”

The president underscored this need for civility during his State of the Union Address on Tuesday, when he said that a robust democracy demands fighting fiercely for our beliefs, but that “what comes of this moment will be determined not by whether we can sit together tonight, but whether we can work together tomorrow.”

We've already seen ways in which members of Congress and other Washington insiders have ignored the president's call for civility through some pretty harsh rhetoric in the past month. But as I spent most all of Tuesday at the Capitol for the State of the Union, I saw gestures of civility in countless ways, and wondered if the nation's top decision-makers noticed them, too.

Actually, I'd bet they have an opportunity each morning, afternoon and evening to see civility at work among the U.S. Capitol police force. These are the officers who spend each day guarding the U.S. Capitol, greeting visitors, and monitoring security checkpoints. There were more Capitol police on duty Tuesday than on a normal day, given that the country's most powerful leaders—the president, vice president, Cabinet officials, members of Congress and Supreme Court justices, among them—were all in the same place that night. But in spite of what was a very long—and sometimes stressful—day, every police officer I encountered (no matter the hour of the day or night) was alert, helpful and gracious, whether they were asking for my ID, or offering directions and advice for a quicker route to get me where I needed to go. And I know they don't act this way only for the State of the Union address, because I can't think of one instance in which I've ever seen a Capitol police officer act uncivil.

Then there were the staff members of the various press galleries, who worked overtime on Tuesday night, but who still managed to be pleasant (and even crack jokes) as they escorted reporters to various sections of the Capitol; ran around, distributing copies of the address moments before it was delivered; and answered countless questions about which electronic devices could be taken in the chamber (laptops: in; all mobile devices: out), while their workspaces were filled with reporters, emptied plastic soda bottles, and chip and candy wrappers.

But I think the most memorable act of civility that night for me came just moments before the president entered the chamber. From where I stood in the press gallery, I had a good view of the first lady's box, where she was joined by the family of Christina-Taylor Green, who was killed in the Tucson shootings earlier this month. Just before Mrs. Obama entered, Christina's mother Roxana bent down to straighten the tie of her young son, Dallas, so he'd be ready when the speech began. And throughout the entire address, the family sat there, poised and controlled, even though their daughter and sister had been murdered not even three weeks earlier. If anyone has cause to act uncivil, surely it is any member of the Green family. But they've chosen otherwise.

Examples of civility are everywhere, every day. And as Wortley Montagu wrote, it doesn't cost a thing.

Jessica Zigmond is Modern Healthcare's Washington bureau chief.