Mind Your Manners; Do Manners Still Matter...Never Mind! Mannerisms.

Etiquette Eschewed, Righteous Rudeness: With the unraveling of manners, can civilization survive, as we know it at least? When people are so thin skinned that they can't take someone poking a little fun, when they are so ready to pounce back, say "gotcha!", can we enjoy any spontaneous discourse anymore? Are we completely lacking in good humor (see 9/19)? When people are anxious to stake their claim as a victim and then turn around, with vengeance on their hearts and minds, who and what to blame...? With the cancel club clubbing and destroying anything remotely controversial from eons ago, when 'they' were not so enlightened as us, might we be in the cross hairs in the future? When local health and school officials, in response to their attempts to keep students and staff safe, receive death threats, who will step up and lead? All these perplexing questions regarding what appears, based on a cursory survey of mainline media any given morning, to reflect a pervasiveness of ill-mannered folks these days. And all of this, without even considering how (un)social media and the layers of protection technology offers to those inclined to be rude, crude...

On the other hand...

I'mpolite Company: At least I try to be...kind, considerate, patient...at least polite -- diplomatic even, in my daily dealings here and abroad (see 9/19 about diplomacy).  It's cool to watch what happens, especially when others don't expect or deserve it, due perhaps to how they've treated you, to respond with a  conciliatory comment, even complimentary that has nothing to do with what's being debated, their attempts to debase...counterintuitive but frequently effective in changing the tone from that of utter rudeness to something a bit lighter...try and see what happens...it might not be immediate but I have found throughout the past four decades, perhaps even more so now, people are eager for such an approach, just waiting for someone to show them some politeness...some manners...shown rather than told nor scold...

Poetic License? But wait, if even sacred art forms such as haikus are now being highjacked for the purpose of insulting, assaulting our good senses...such as in "The Insult Haiku World Cup" -- some recent entries include: 

Who was once ahead?                                                                                                                                  Someone now just looks in dread                                                                                                                 Tony knucklehead                                                                                                                                          

Thought he had it made                                                                                                                                  But he never made the grade                                                                                                                          Idiots parade

To which I offer, in polite response:

Insults are flying                                                                                                                                            While manners remain grounded                                                                                                                    Can we clear the air?

Or, paraphrased from a marquee of a local church I recently read, from the Book of James:

No call for anger                                                                                                                                            Quick to listen, slow to speak                                                                                                                        We'll be better off...

Time Tested, Sages through the Ages: Regarding manners, civil discourse -- if the Biblical reference is not sufficient to guide you in being kind, patient, among other virtues, we also have the advice of our mothers that "If you can't say something nice..." And if that's not enough, reaching even farther back, we can also hear the collective voice of our grandmothers "Careful, your manners are showing".

Mannerisms: we all have them, in high demand.                          







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