Etiquette Makes A Comeback

Hold on to your hat! In a lot of places in the U.S. enough people are fed up with the age of rudeness in which we live, that etiquette classes for kids are popping up across the country. Good manners, respect and politeness to others,  is a form of social glue that works to keep us living together in a  civilized society. In recent years we have forgotten that.  How many children today don't learn the basics of even a "please" or "thank you", or how to behave in a public space.  Social empathy comes from manners. No wonder all those cell phone addicts are going wild with rudeness.

Too, etiquette matters for one's self worth, self esteem. After all, etiquette is just a code of behavior that tells us what is appropriate and what is not. It seems to me we need a lot more of that instead of  the Kardashianism (defined as, "Look at me! I am behaving foolishly and getting attention for it. I'm great?") that society glorifies. Etiquette changes over time as it adapts to society. But today our etiquette has seemed to decline rather than evolves. No etiquette at all  sometimes is the new norm.

Then again, maybe manners today are just different form the past. Maybe we are not cruder than in the past. Today manners are less about faux pas than being mindful of how you treat people around you. So the rules aren't as cut-and-dried as they once were. 

Society is unpredictable so manners are less predictable. Yet, I find that distressing.  Having consistent public expectations makes it easier to understand human behavior. It also makes it easier for us to communicate and makes society more stable. Having definitive expectations makes it easier to act. We don't have to guess whether what we do is socially acceptable or not. Hmmmm I wonder if my writing about this is mannerly or not.