Where Have All The Manners Gone?

My mother raised me right.

She taught me to respect people, especially women, and to be as much of a knight as her short son could be.

She certainly taught me to stand up and give up my seat to the elderly, the handicapped, and the pregnant.

Are mothers still teaching their children this stuff?

The anecdotal evidence around me points to the answer being an obvious NOPE.

My Sweetie is 30 weeks pregnant. Although her belly is not as large as it was for the other children, there is no mistaking she is seriously pregnant.

Do you think a person, male OR female, might think it a good idea to give up their seat to her when she is CLEARLY looking for a place to sit?

NOPE.

Recently at Lego Land in Southern California, she looked endlessly for a place to sit. Benches were full of people. Plenty of young and able bodied people SHOULD have stood up and offered their seats. But did they?

Of course NOT.

How could someone look right at a women ready to pop with a child and not have the decency and the courtesy to at least OFFER their seat to her??

A Queens bus driver made the news this month when he smashed a passenger over the head for not standing up and giving one of the handicapped reserved seats up to an elderly woman who got on the bus.

This is not the answer and I do not condone the driver's actions.

But it also begs the question: was that passenger raised by WOLVES in the jungle? Did that guy's mother forget that all too important lesson about courtesy...and yes...gasp...CHIVALRY.

Chivalry IS dead. And so are common manners, apparently.

Too bad courtesy and common sense aren't as common on the benches of America as profanity laced conversation. If four letter words were the equivalent of courtesy, we'd be knee deep in nice people.

Somebody have a few expletives they'd like to get rid of in exchange for giving my Better Half a seat in the blazing heat?

My mother raised me right. And so did my father.

Maybe the best we can do is promise ourselves and our children we will make the best effort to pass on Mother's lessons to the next generation. That is, if it isn't too late already.