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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