There we were, Mrs. Planet Kirby and me, sitting at one of our favorite eating establishments trying to enjoy our finely prepared fast food when this woman walked past our table and spewed out this cough that resembled the mating call of a kookaburra. What made this experience even worse was that she made no attempt to cover her pie hole as she sprayed mucus and demons into the air. It was not as if her cough took her by surprise; she had no intention of trying to have some manners by covering her yap.
Looking up from the table, I found that the words, "Thanks for covering your mouth..." were already flowing satirically from my mouth and that they were loud enough for the coughing behemoth and those dining near us to hear. But alas, poor Yorick, she didn't hear me, and if she did, she appeared not to care. Taking a deep breath and not really being surprised by my involuntary response, I looked at Mrs. Planet Kirby and said, "Whatever happened to manners?"
As we munched on our chicken nuggets and sipped our sweet tea, we talked about the lack of manners evident in society today. We noted that somewhere along the way our society went from being "We" to "Me".
Growing up, my mother and father taught me that manners were simply a way of showing other people respect. When used properly they can lift someones spirit, defuse tense situations and even avoid confrontations. But the main reason to display good manners was because it was the right thing to do. Today, however, manners are a lost art to most people.
My father always taught me to open the door for a woman and to always say "please" and "thank you" in social situations. At the dinner table, I was taught to always give thanks for our food and to never belch in the presence of my mother. I could go on and on, however, I think that most of you get the picture. As parents, we have tried to instill the importance of good manners in each of our children. For the most part, they do pretty good, however, one of our clones still struggles with the concept of not texting at the dinner table.
The other day I held the door for an elderly woman who reminded me a little of my grandmother. As she walked through the doorway, she turned to me and said, "My...how refreshing to see a young man with manners..." And with those words, she smiled as she walked away. That's another benefit of making good manners a part of your daily life...you might just bring a smile to someones face. I think that if each of us made at least one other person smile each day by displaying some random act of kindness and manners, then maybe, just maybe, each of our own little planets would be a much better place to live.
Be Well.
Bill
