Wikipedia - ever reliable Wikipedia describes manners as: "In sociology, manners are the unenforced standards of conduct which demonstrate that a person is proper, polite, and refined. They are like laws in that they codify or set a standard for human behavior, but they are unlike laws in that there is no formal system for punishing transgressions, the main informal "punishment" being social disapproval.
I remember when growing up, we always heard, like 6 million times a day something to do with manners. Where are your manners? What bad manners you have? That is not good manners...etc etc. And that would be promptly followed by a slap on your face or back of your head so that it really sinks in that you are BAD MANNERED! Now, African mothers are not shy about smacking you in public! Noooo. So, we had to learn our manners. We had to learn to sit with our legs together (girls); learn not to fidget; learn not to shout, run or scream; learn to finish the food on our plates; learn how to say PLEASE, MAY I, THANK YOU.
As we grew, we learned that manners involved a whole lot more, including respecting people's "space". Yes. Don't get too touchy feely especially with strangers; don't get too too close so as to breathe in the other persons air! don't go to someone's house un-invited; don't gossip and many more. But still, even with a childhood of shouts and smacks from our Moms, and a lifetime of learning from the world, we still find people that have no manners, or rather, are so ill-mannered.
Don't you just hate it when someone rudely cuts you off as you are speaking? Don't you just hate it that after you've taken time to say something, the other person changes the subject just like that? Don't you just hate it when people go to meetings, their jingles blare out, and they proceed to pick the phone and talk? Don't you just hate it when someone calls you into their office for a meeting, but continues typing emails, calling up other people and leaves you just hanging there like an idiot? Don't you just hate those people that don't queue, or cut the queue? Don't you just hate those people that don't have the courtesy to respond to your emails? Don't you just hate it there seem to be a lot more bad mannered people than there are good mannered ones?
And now with social media. Don't you just hate it when people ask for friendship even though you have nothing in common - not even having the decency to introduce themselves to you? That these same people go on and just keep quiet, never even sending you a poke? Don't you just hate the POOR GRAMMAR SKILLS that people are now proudly showing off on social media? Don't you just love it that people are in such a hurry to comment that they don't think through carefully what it is that they're saying? And, oh, don't you just love those stupid and inane comments people make about your pictures and stuff? What about those that borrow/steal updates or comments, and don't have the decency to credit the person they stole it/them from?
Oh, there's too much mannerlessness going about in this world. My question is WHERE HAVE ALL THE MANNERS GONE?
