Manners
Halea Martin
Mrs. Halstead
College Writing
September 15, 2013
Manners
Johnny use to open the door for Alice and it was more than okay, it was expected. Now if Johnny tries to open the door, one of two things can happen. Either Alice will be offended because she is equal and perfectly capable of opening the door on her own. Or, Alice assumes that he is trying to make a move on her and sums him up as a pervert. This situation brings up the questions: What has our culture done to the art of manners? And how are manners viewed in our society today? It’s not only the act of chivalry that is dying off, but simple social expediencies, these once revered customs such as proper table etiquette, have lost their meaning in today’s culture. We have good manners & bad ones. Over the past few years, the lines have seemed to blurred together where and when your manners should take place. Where are the good ones expected and the bad ones unacceptable? People could look at you in a different, more positive light and give you a greater respect knowing how polite and considerate you are. Manners do matter, even where one may not think they are accepted. Good manners would consist of having good posture, saying Please and Thank You, and giving someone your undivided attention. To do that would mean you would have to pry your eyes away from your cell phone for more than the span between every new text. The younger generations have exceptional difficulty with the initial action of achieving these “good” manners. Who would be able to? Now it is not something one has any prior knowledge of and it has never been expected of him or her before. Young adults are given a free pass when it comes to the social expectancy for manners. In informal places, around peers especially, manners are not expected therefore no one anticipates the other to show any form of manners. So, if someone belches or is pushed out of the way, no one thinks twice about it. Due to the normalcy of
Mrs. Halstead
College Writing
September 15, 2013
Manners
Johnny use to open the door for Alice and it was more than okay, it was expected. Now if Johnny tries to open the door, one of two things can happen. Either Alice will be offended because she is equal and perfectly capable of opening the door on her own. Or, Alice assumes that he is trying to make a move on her and sums him up as a pervert. This situation brings up the questions: What has our culture done to the art of manners? And how are manners viewed in our society today? It’s not only the act of chivalry that is dying off, but simple social expediencies, these once revered customs such as proper table etiquette, have lost their meaning in today’s culture. We have good manners & bad ones. Over the past few years, the lines have seemed to blurred together where and when your manners should take place. Where are the good ones expected and the bad ones unacceptable? People could look at you in a different, more positive light and give you a greater respect knowing how polite and considerate you are. Manners do matter, even where one may not think they are accepted. Good manners would consist of having good posture, saying Please and Thank You, and giving someone your undivided attention. To do that would mean you would have to pry your eyes away from your cell phone for more than the span between every new text. The younger generations have exceptional difficulty with the initial action of achieving these “good” manners. Who would be able to? Now it is not something one has any prior knowledge of and it has never been expected of him or her before. Young adults are given a free pass when it comes to the social expectancy for manners. In informal places, around peers especially, manners are not expected therefore no one anticipates the other to show any form of manners. So, if someone belches or is pushed out of the way, no one thinks twice about it. Due to the normalcy of