I recently had someone hold the door open for me, and I thought to myself, “How nice of them!” But the more I’ve thought about it – I remember the days when I wouldn’t have thought anything about it because there wasn’t anything “nice” about being nice – it was the norm! Have we forgotten our manners? Men used to always walk on the outside of the sidewalk – to protect the lady, you know. They also opened the car doors to allow the lady to “slide in.” People actually dressed up to go out!
Table manners were taught. Nowadays, families rarely sit down at the dinner table therefore, we have a whole generation who doesn’t know how to “gently lay” a napkin in their laps. Young ones don’t know that they should not talk with food in their mouths, and no one should EVER put their elbows on the table! I’m not going to even go into the “lost art” of setting a table. Oh my!
One of the things that drives me crazy is hearing young children respond to adults with “yeah” or “no.” I miss those “yes, mams” and “no, sirs.” I miss the days when I wasn’t interrupted when speaking. It seems like everyone is so busy trying to be heard that they don’t know how to listen anymore. I miss folks saying, “Thank you.” You know, we don’t HAVE to share what we have – we do it because we are willing to help others out. Yet, we often don’t even get a “Thank you.” People seem to expect you to do or give them whatever they want – because they want it. Not a great commentary on our society, is it?
It’s sad that “common courtesies” aren’t so common anymore. Let’s bring them back! God Bless, Courtney