Manners

[cynthia Hunter]

Good manners,what are good manners? Saying Thank You-No Thank You-Please-Your Welcome- Opening a door-Letting someone get infront of you in a store line.
When someone is talking you listen. Being kind to one another, not calling each other names, not trying to make some one feel less than you . What are good manners?

[Tina]

It would seem that manners and the human sense of decency is something that our society has lost more and more. Society has come to a place where almost anything goes, almost all is accepted and when someone speaks out then they are accused of being a socialist or communist. Our society has lost so much of down to earth plain decency and common sense, in my opinion of course!

It is something to enter any public arena these days and expect that old fashioned manners will be used. People these days feel entitled to do, say and act as they please. To some it takes away from the joy of being a part of this society, for others it is an excuse to just take out their own frustrations and anger on any ole person that comes along.

Seems we are compelled these days to keep reaching back for some things that were lost from "the good old days", when decent public behavior had meaning, and manners were expected and taught. One more sad loss for American Freedoms gone bad! (In my opinion)

[cynthia Hunter]

I'm glad I was also.My daughters are raising their children the same same way. the other day my 5 yr old grandson bumped into a women in line and said I'm sorry,please excuse me. Now if a five year old can do that why can adults?

[blondie 11]

I am so glad someone finally write about this. I think manners is a lost art. I have feeling that anyone under 25 has never heard of them. I think the parent have trouble teaching them, because they have never heard of them either. i grew up where they were manlatory. Now, optional or do not exist.

[caseyjo]

I am not saying we should not try to respect others, I am saying that sometimes we go way over the line in thinking we know how others should act, and if they don't act in such a manner we judge the person. I know some people see life as in a black and white movie, but we are not all black and white. We are all different from all different walks of life, All different levels of education, different cultures, different mind sets. No two people think exactly alike. What may seem correct to one person may not seem correct to another.

Maybe some people are born in a barn...does that make them bad? I was brought up in a household where manners were very important. I felt like a rag doll for my father to show off. I felt like a little extension of him. I started to wonder why all these things were so important to him. Why as children were we paraded around as puppets and not allowed to be children.

My fathers constant criticism turned me and my brother into such quiet and scared individuals, we could not even talk to people anymore. We were both painfully shy and awkward. Afraid to look at anyone cross eyed. Afraid to open our mouths for the fear we may use a word out of context.

We both rebelled and my younger brother Butch died of alcoholism this year. We were bound and bullied by our perfect father to the point of no return.

Now I look at hearts instead of perfect manners. I tend to love a person who is genuinely kind and helpful. Our society is becoming more and more judgmental all the time..rules upon rules upon rules that people are supposed to abide by. We are so far away from our true natures it is frightening. We have atomic bombs pointing mat each other because we cant tolerate our different views of gods or no gods and how cultures should behave.

[cynthia Hunter]

Thank You Maggie!

[caseyjo]

oops, I meant to say the shirt off of their back.

[caseyjo]

Some manners are good, some are just plain silly . My father used to say manners show the class of a person. To me much of it is stifling control and totally not necessary. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you is my motto. I can open my own car door for crying out loud. What difference does it make what hand I hold my silverware in? I would not curtsy for a queen, even though I was taught to when I was a child.. I mean when you really think about it, much of what class & style is, is about power and control and I try never to allow people to manipulate me into seeing things (I consider to be a waste of time) their way. Take table manners for instance. Breaking of the bread...good...you don't want to poke someone in their nose with a long piece of bread. Napkin in the lap...bad. If you drop food on your chest people will have to see it the whole time they are eating with you. The napkin should be neatly tucked under the chin.

We do things because our parents did them and their parents befor them. We do them because that is what we were taught, but the true reasons for why we do them sometimes we never really consider. A girl came to my house, saw me take a swig out of the milk carton and told me I had bad manners. Well, It was my milk, my home. I wasn't serving the milk to anyone else. Why should I waste water and dirty a glass for no reason? What do good manners really have to do with treating others good?

Some of the nicest people I have ever known who were terrible in the manners dept, were the very people who would literally give you the shirt off your back if you needed it. The very poor uneducated who are happy because they know how to love.

[Jermann]

Consideration, doing unto others....... Some people were never taught manners so of course they didn't know how to teach their children manners, and so on down the line, Where's Miss Manner's, Emily Post and etiquette and Phone manners now? and the shame of it is that its not going to get better, only worst as time goes on.

[cynthia Hunter]

Wouldnt it be nice if we all started to pratice manners much more!