Have you ever noticed?

The other day I was in a public place and a young man opened a door as I was reaching to open it from the opposite side. One thinks that the automatic response will be "Excuse me", which is what I automatically said. The young man, however, said "My bad". I only just managed to refrain from laughing in his face.

Have you ever noticed how bad manners have gotten? We all do realize it from time to time, but the fact is that we no longer have manners.

Please, excuse me, thank you, and the like are nearly extinct. Of course, some still do use the old manners especially in public. My opinion is that we should exercise manners automatically with our families and with the people with whom we live and then radiate out to the world beyond. Even that has changed.

I've heard comments (lots of them) about the fact that when you're listening to the news, if there is more than one person, they simply talk over each other. No manners.

When making phone calls, how often do you get a call for yourself, or someone in your household and the caller simply says..............is "n" there? Seldom does the caller identify who they are and then ask for the person they want to speak to. No manners.

To her great credit, a relative of mine sees to it that her children always write thank you notes when they've received a gift. How often are thank you notes ever though of any more? No manners.

So, the bottom line is we've become a slovenly society completely lacking in manners. What does that mean? I suspect it means that we've become so selfish and centered on self that we no longer worry about how we affect others.

Witness the new "hair styles" of deliberately making one's hair look as if you've just gotten out of bed. It's hard to wrap the mind around the reason for that *style*. It's obnoxious and shows exactly how the wearer of that strange trend sees the world. They definitely don't worry about how they look to others and it certainly is a reflection of the mind inside the head.

Our society is in grave trouble; few notice, few care and the rest lead lives of quiet desperation.