Whatever Happened To Manners?

So, lately I've been thinking about whatever happened to manners?  When I was growing up, my mother and father made a big deal out of teaching me the value of being polite and courteous to others.  In turn, my wife and I have imparted those same ideals to our children.  But when I'm out in public I don't see very many people with manners.

In the Urban Dictionary there is a word 'rudening' which is defined as "an erosion of manners, politeness and courtesy over a period of time, resulting in the extinction of such phrases as "Please" and "Thank-you" from the English language.  I think maybe that manners, politeness and courtesy have gone the way of the dinosaurs.

Today when someone demonstrates an act of courtesy those benefiting from the act always seemed to be surprised, as if, the person performing the act is some sort of time traveller from a distant galaxy that has performed a ritual long extinct from planet earth.  Case in point...my Sweetie and I were at this restaurant last month and there was a 20 minute wait for seating.  There was a little waiting area nearby so we sat down waiting for our turn to have at the soup, salad and breadsticks.  As it got more crowded there were no more available seats for those people waiting, so I stood up and let a woman with a 2 small children sit in my seat.  You would have thought I had just given her half of my winning lottery ticket.  She was so appreciative of the act.

Conversely, some of the other men in the waiting had no intention of giving up their seats for some of the elderly folks who had just entered the restaurant.  Only after receiving several jabs in the ribs from his wife's elbow did one man reluctantly give up his seat but not until giving me the evil eye for starting this whole act of kindness routine.

I just don't get it and it's not just teenagers I'm talking about.  Sometimes adults are the worst when it comes to manners.  Saying "please" and "thank-you" have never killed anyone that I'm aware of.  Holding the door open for someone will not make you go blind and, on a sidenote, not related to anything in this blog, that other thing that Sister Mary Margaret told you not to do will not make you go blind either....just sayin'.

So maybe I'll start a One Man Crusade to bring back manners.  So here you go..."Thank you for reading my blog..."

Be Well.

Bill