Sunday, June 24, 2012

Day 172, June 24

One of my favorite books is "Everything I Needed to Know, I Learned in Kindergarten."  The author proceeds to list things we learn in kindergarten.

Saying "please" and "thank you"is among those maxims.

When did our culture take on a fast-food approach to manners?  I cringe when I read of brides and grooms emailing their thank yous to guests who took the time to attend the wedding and choose a gift.  Is that better or worse, I wonder, than failing to acknowledge a gift at all?  I flinch at the rudeness shown to those who serve us, with never a "please" or a "thank you" to waiters, salon operatives, store clerks, etc.

Will our manners eventually devolve so completely that we become a nation of grunters, making our needs known with nothing but a roughly delivered demand?

This I know for sure:  the devolution of manners is a symptom of the devolution of society.




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