Ok it has come to my attention that people are simply riding roughshod over the concept of politeness. As you well know I have already bemoaned the lack of simple courteousness on the road and now I feel it my duty to expand the subject for those who can't manage to say please and thank you!! Now this is not a new concept people, we have been managing to say please and thank you for oh a number of years I would hazard (think it dates back to Roman times but I may have just made that up and convinced myself of it). So why, in the last few years have we decided we can dispense with please and thank you??
Basically it seems to me that people are only willing to say please or thank you in certain situations. I certainly did not get a thank you for holding open the door for an old lady today (despite the fact that holding the door for her meant I was standing in the torrential downpour with two soggy children), I did not get a thanks or a wave when I let a man cross (in a frigging 4x4 of all things) lanes ahead of me and I did not even get a smile as I held out a book that I had picked up for a lady earlier. So what is the problem? Is politeness a dying art or is it nearer extinction than that??
Politeness then is defined as......
po·lite (p
-l
t
)
adj. po·lit·er, po·lit·est
So really it is showing consideration for others and it's the done thing in polite society. Ok so why are we not observing this then?? I manage to say please and thank you, why are others not doing it?? Have they forgotten about manners or is it seen as something only 'old people do'?? I just don't get it!! Its extremely frustrating, not to mention rude! And it definitely does not set a good example for the kids!!
1. Marked by or showing consideration for others, tact, and observance of accepted social usage.
2. Refined; elegant: polite society.
So really it is showing consideration for others and it's the done thing in polite society. Ok so why are we not observing this then?? I manage to say please and thank you, why are others not doing it?? Have they forgotten about manners or is it seen as something only 'old people do'?? I just don't get it!! Its extremely frustrating, not to mention rude! And it definitely does not set a good example for the kids!!
Children's rudeness and lack of table manners is 'all down to lazy, liberal parenting', say grandmothers
- Survey shows children ignore common courtesies
- Decline of family meal causes bad table manners
- Scrapping strict school rules also blamed
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Liberal parents obsessed with letting children 'express themselves' are killing-off good manners, it has been claimed
A decline in traditions like sitting down to eat dinner together and using common courtesies such as 'excuse me' stems from lazy parenting, according to a survey of grandmothers.
They also blamed bad behaviour at school on the axing of old rules which saw children sit at desks all day and stand respectfully when a teacher entered the room.
They believe that good manners can only be learned by example, with many 21st century parents failing to provide the same disciplinary boundaries they had.
Grandmothers have seen a decline in children's manners (photo posed by model)
Results of the study of 100 grandparents by website Grannynet, revealed just 54 per cent of children now sit down to eat dinner with their families at least once a day.
This was a down from 92 per cent of grandmothers when they were growing up and 87 per cent when they were raising their children.
Bad habits at dinnertime proved a particular bugbear for many of those surveyed.
Today just 49 per cent of children ask if they can leave the table at the end of a meal, compared to 89 per cent of grandparents when they were growing up and 80 per cent of parents during their childhood.
And putting your elbows on the table while eating - once considered the ultimate in bad manners - is now discouraged by just 19 per cent of parents.
One grandmother surveyed said: 'My grandchildren have bad table manners as they haven’t been taught them by their parents.'
The survey revealed a few glimmers of hope, with most children still using common courtesies 'please' and 'thank you.'
However just 37 per cent of children today say 'excuse me', before interrupting someone, a disappointment to the 82 per cent of grandmothers polled who did so during their childhood.
Meanwhile, the number of children writing thank-you letters has dropped dramatically, from 86 per forced to do so when grandparents were young to just 35 per cent today.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2243883/Grandmothers-blame-lazy-parenting-childrens-rudeness-lack-table-manners.html#ixzz2b8Aj6AKv
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So it's not just me that finds it really annoying then! But is it my fault? Am I as a parent too lazy to teach my children to say please and thank you?? No, I'm not. Jake knows to sit down to eat, say please and thank you (although its not entirely decipherable as words yet but same noises each time!) and he loves to hold doors open for me so I can push Tabitha in the pram through. And he is 2 years old for fucks sake!! So if it is lazy parenting then it goes back a long way as the old lady I held the door open for today was about ninety!! So people of Hereford, hear me now, SORT IT OUT!!!
As my dad says (along with a million other annoying quotes!) it costs nothing to be polite!! Here are some more.....
“Call a jack a jack. Call a spade a spade. But always call a whore a lady. Their lives are hard enough, and it never hurts to be polite.”
― Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind
― Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind
Enjoy and remember your p's and q's!! FR.
