No, I don't mean politeness, I mean politeless. As in, the folks who I run into on a daily basis seem almost universally to be lacking in the basic human skill of being polite. I mean, "please" and "thank you", "excuse me" and "may I?". Mind you, I've been a stickler for this since meeting my aunt when I was two, and telling my mother "Auntie is very nice, but she's not very polite, is she?": on further questioning, my mother determined that my reason for saying this was that my aunt never said "you are welcome" when I said "thank you".
A friend said yesterday that she had heard that one reason for children not saying "please" any more is that their parents are actively discouraging it, believing that saying please reflects weakness, and they want their children to grow up to be titans of industry, leaders, not followers. And barbarians.
If you disagree, let me know.
Please.
N.
Musings on life, bread and other necessities.
About Me
Don't know 'em -- like reading 'em
Blog Archive
-
▼
2007
(454)
-
▼
June
(74)
- Terror
- Fleeting thoughts
- Disbelief
- Weekend of food ahead
- Huge sighs of relief
- Live each day as if it were your last
- What I'm listening to right now
- Christmas in July, nearly
- Other people's tragedy
- Recipes
- Cooking tonight
- Inventing words is important
- Four in the morning
- Anvils in the sky
- How to win friends and influence employees
- Family values
- Sprogs and wiggles
- Politeless
- Power cuts
- Scavenger hunting
- Simple Fare
- Cafe standards
- Still learning this blogging stuff
- Gasoline taxes
- Weather and crops
- Overworked and underpaid, but going swimmingly
- Curry, of a sort
- Political news
- The little things that please
- Whee!!!
- Whee!
- A wonderful evening!
- A magic day!
- Farmers' Market
- Bug
- Crossover salmon appetizers
- A busy day
- Old friends, new friends,...
- Leftovers or crossovers?
- Salmon in a bourbon marinade redux
- Call from an old friend
- Skibo the cowboy
- I'm so thrilled!
- Swearing for little people
- Gentle afternoon on the town square
- Trains, planes, no automobiles
- Amazing altered graphics
- Hubris
- Children change so quickly part 2
- Children change so quickly
- What I'm listening to right now
- McConnell is an ass
- Watching other people talk
- Computers
- Chili
- Thunder in the afternoons
- Oh yes....
- Salmon in a bourbon marinade
- Food pictures
- Aaarrrggghhh....
- So I've added a blog roll
- Fraught feeling
- Date night
- Sushi tonight
- Sleeping sprogs, at last
- Braised ribs
- Sharp knives
- How to remember... what... huh?
- Scary moments
- Never trust a skinny chef, and other stories
- Amazon sales rankings
- Food for the weekend
- Government agencies can stop one from flying
- Standing on the outside, looking in
-
▼
June
(74)
Hits
3 comments:
It's the same over in this country. I often wonder why people have forgotten their manners. It is something that greatly irritates me. I am always polite and courteous, but I often get suspicious or angry glares from people (because apparently being pleasant is actually a bad thing).
It's become so bad that I'm taken by surprise when someone is polite back!
An interesting theory about why parents have stopped teaching children to say please! Worrying if that is the case.
Found your blog thru Michele's. Had to comment on this.
I taught my kids manners. They don't often REMEMBER to use them, but I do, and I hope that reflects well on them, so that as they grow, they will become polite adults. I do NOT think that please is a sign of weakness. Rather, the lack of politeness is a sign of obnoxiousness. Parents aren't teaching their kids manners because they are too lazy to do so.
Linda,
LOML and I agree with you entirely on this. We spend seemingly infinite amounts of time reminding Boo and Skibo of the existence of the phrases "please" and "thankyou". To give the sprogs their due, they are actually really very good at using them unprompted. Most of the time.
N.
Post a Comment