WHY GOOD MANNERS, A LITTLE RESPECT GO A LONG WAY
I AM officially old. Because I am about to discuss “kids these days”. When you utter that expression you should automatically be issued with a Seniors Card.
But I want to talk about manners and respect. It’s certainly not a new debate. Every generation thinks the standards of the next is slipping.
“Soz,” said a teenage girl who brushed past me in a crowd the other day. I guess I should be grateful she acknowledged my existence, but any danger you could find an extra syllable for me, sweetheart?
Then there are the young people we see on our news who’ve turned up to court wearing jeans and sneakers. If you’re not going to dress up for a court appearance, even if you’re just a witness, I’m not sure your respect-for-authority compass is set quite right.
I am not without fault in the manners department. So let’s workshop some common examples of bad manners.
Staying on the phone while you’re being served in a shop. I have done this, it’s bad, I know.
Using your phone at the table. Again I have been guilty of this. But unless you are the Prime Minister or a surgeon waiting to hear whether your patient has got the transplant organ they are waiting for, we can all probably leave our phones alone for the time it takes to eat our smashed avocado. After we’ve photographed it for social media purposes, naturally.
Having your headphones up so loud on the train/bus/plane that everyone is subjected to your questionable taste in music.
Saying “I was next” at the Foodland deli is bad manners when you know I’ve been waiting longer than you have for my olives and smiley fritz but I just forgot to pull out one of those paper numbers.
Actually, supermarket etiquette is complex. It’s also good manners to let someone who only has a few things go in front of you. And to use the partition dooflacky to separate your grocery items from the next customer to avoid making someone else pay for your toilet paper.
Thanking people is good manners. I would love to be that person who sends handwritten thank-you notes to people. I’m not. A text or an email is better than nothing.
Letting people into traffic is good manners. With almost every street in Adelaide seemingly crippled by roadworks, how about letting that driver with their indicator flashing into your lane when they realise theirs is about to disappear? And how about the driver who you let in gives you a little wave?
RSVPing is good manners. Again, I am very bad at this. And then I host a party and have no idea how many layers I need to make my eldest daughter wrap the pass the parcel prizes in.
Let’s all agree here and now that “I assumed you knew I was coming” is not an RSVP. Let’s work on this together and RSVP before the date requested. Pass the parcel and lolly bag planning will never be the same again.
So when I say kids these days, it’s not really just the kids who are to blame. We can all improve in manners and respect.
Have I told you how lovely you look today, by the way?
Vocabulary Words:
1. Soz - (exclamation/slang) (especially in text messages, emails, etc.) Sorry
2. Dress up - (phrasal verb) to wear clothes that are more formal than those you usually wear
3. Questionable - (adj.) that you have doubts about because you think it is not accurate or correct
4. RSVP - (abbr.) (written on invitations) please reply (from French ‘répondez s’il vous plaît’)
5. Parcel - (noun) something that is wrapped in paper or put into a thick envelope so that it can be sent by mail, carried easily, or given as a present
Discussion Questions:
1. Why are manners and respect important? Do you think rules of etiquette are important? Why?
2. Do people have more manners now or in earlier times? Why do you think so?
3. What advice would you give a foreigner visiting your ｃountry who would like to show good
manners?
4. How closely do you think good manners are related to success, income and social status?
5. Do you take into considerationthe rules of etiquette when doing something? Why or why not?
