Has anyone noticed how rude people can be these days? Doesn’t anyone say please and thank you anymore? It’s starting to seem as if manners and good etiquette are a thing of the past. A person will knock you down and then look at you as if they’re offended that you fell. WTF, that is not okay! If you bump into someone, excuse me is never a bad idea. Step on my toe and through my pain, I expect to hear excuse me, I’m sorry, are you okay? I’d settle for did “I break it?” Give me something, show me that your actions are not intentional and I’ll understand. These days we get eye rolling, move BIT– or nothing at all.
Once, while attending a social function, I made the mistake of making very brief eye contact with someone across the room. That person cursed me rather loudly and then accused me of eavesdropping on their phone conversation. It was actually a loud very public berating and the kicker is that they were so far away from me, I couldn’t tell they were on a call, much less eavesdrop. I innocently glance around the room and now I’m the one with bad manners. This makes no sense at all.
Bad manners and poor etiquette are taboo in my parents home. When we were young, they made it perfectly clear to my siblings and I that bad manners and poor etiquette were completely unacceptable. We were taught to respect not only ourselves but others as well. Please and thank you are key bricks in the foundation of my life. My father told me that no one is above giving an apology and I agree with him. In fact, I agree with everything that I was taught about practicing good manners and proper etiquette; I’m sure I’m not the only one that feels this way. I’m trying to teach the younger members of my family as my parents taught me. They need to know that respect given is respect earned. We insist they know that it’s okay to say “I’m sorry or even congratulations.” It’s not enough for them to just grow up, we want them to be positive, respectful and firm in their actions and interactions. They will know that it okay to give thanks, apologize or be excused; good manners and proper etiquette are not gone we just forget about them for a while, but we will do better. I promise!
