That's so true, but rudeness does... and Moses did good :)! Maybe it's a "southern thang", but I was brought up so that "yes sir/m'am" (especially to elders), holding doors, vacating a seat for someone, etc. was just what you did. Yep, a funeral in the south will stop traffic in both directions (unless you live in a city full of transplants:))...

I can also become very obnoxious... I have a unique way of playing to a persons prejudices..just ask our PWD if that is true.

It does not cost extra to be nice. I go out of my way to acknowledge good manners and politeness. I tend to go out of my way to do the same for rude folks. I wrote a letter to the parents of a kid who came into the office not too long ago. 10 yo boy, shook my hand and introduced himself, said thank and shook it again when he left. His parents, replied, and enclosed a thank you note for the letter from the kid. They have been telling him that people notice it when young man comports himself as a gentleman would, they were glad to have written evidence I think.

It is getting worse out there I think.

Definitely getting worse :(.

Many times at a shopping centre I see people park in handicapped spots who are clearly not...or park in spots reserved for "seniors". I NEVER miss the opportunity to comment to these people that they really should seek the appropriate parking spot. I have been thanked on several occasions by "seniors" in particular for taking an interest. Same goes for the "parents with prams" spots...having been a parent struggling with babies and prams and toddlers all at once (aaarrrggghh!) I know the value of these parking spots and it thoroughly p!sses me off when the spots are taken by those who clearly have no kids...lazy buggers don't want to walk a few extra feet...

I also hold doors open for people behind me and if nothing is said will usually say "a thankyou would be nice"...red faces are often what I get in return.

Our kids get nothing without a "please". You want the salt or pepper passed at dinner, better say "please" or I am mysteriously deaf...

A really nice thing happened a couple of days ago though - I went to pick the kids up from school and couldn't find Charlotte. Whilst walking through the school looking for her, one of her classmates (age 10) said hello to me ..."hello Mrs Jacobson, how are you?"... the conversation continued for a few moments with Chelsea being as polite as she had started. All the children know me by my first name, but Chelsea chose to formally address me. It doesn't happen very often these days and I was suitably impressed by this young lady :).

Mea Culpa. I confess. I park in the 'Contractors Only' spot at Home Depot. (I do have a contractors card). (Somewhere).

It is getting worse out there I think.[/QUOTE]

I've given this some thought, and I think the proper statement is that FOR THIS CYCLE of humanity, it is getting worse, but I have to think that throughout civilization, this up and down degeneration and regeneration of all things civil, including but not limited to, manners, education, just plain respect is just like the tides. For me, born in the fifties in a small western city (really a town), yes, civility is on the ebb tide. But I wonder what it was like in, say, 1850 San Francisco, where you had every manner of education, breeding, way of life, all coming together to chase a Gold Rush. Bet it was worse than any Midwestern mall-based city today - or even a place like inner city Detroit?.

Or take London in the 1400's - 1500's where the difference in all aspects of life between the haves and the have-nots was exponentially greater than it is today? A gentleman or a lady from that era might find our lower middle class enlightened and well-adjusted. As a middle class citizen of 2007, would I be in the same awe of the ways of the London upper class (caste) as the middle class of that era probably were, (even if they were too stubborn to admit it)? I seriously doubt it.

I believe that everyone is conservative to a degree, no matter how they frame their politics, and we all want things to be the way they were during our own personal golden era. Unfortunately, this ain't gonna happen, especially in this enlightened time where the self is more important than the group, and infotainment is passed off as "news"

Just the ramblings of a lunatic. Attach no worth to these words, they are my personal views. They may change tomorrow. I just like the topic, and have for a long time. Thanks for the thread.

PS _ love the picture of Michael Douglas. Loved the first part of that movie. Totally identified with the character. Later in the movie, not so much.:)

I just got back from some vacation time in North Idaho, where I was raised. I now live in metropolital Seattle. Life is slower in North Idaho, so people are far less impatient. That's nice. And everyone waves. At everyone. You just lift your hand or just your finger from the steering wheel. Everyone does it.

during this vacation, I caught up with some college buddies. Nice guys. Two of them were raised in that same area. Cliff reported that his kid's coach asked him whether his kid is being a smartass when he calls the coach "Sir." He always calls the coach "Sir." Cliff replied that no, his kid is not being a smartass. He is using one of the three options he was taught at home. The three options are "Mr. So-And-So," "Coach" or "Sir." Then later, when we were discussing the experiences of our youth, I mentioned there was basically one mercantile store in town. Davis And Link. The owner/proprietor's name was Matt Maschinski. He always told me to call him "Matt." I called him "Mr. Maschinski." I couldn't just call him "Matt," no matter how hard he tried.

That is the way I was raised and the way my children are being raised. It is the little things that matter.

My kids have free reign with Dad to argue and state their case...and they are very well equipped to do so: Being polite with others is off the discussion matrix. They don't seem to mind.:cool:

I was in a tall building and took the elevator.....I was alone with a troll....he passes gas and I about died.

Fortunately, my floor arrived quickly and as I walked out I ran my finger down the whole bank of numbers.....

I can verify this from my visit this summer. Just wonderful kids and a great family. :)

Too true. But I seem to accept this in the proper perspective these days.

In Texas, we have Blue handicapp license plates/tags for Physical disabilities.

Then they have red tags for "Other than Physical" disabilities.

That really really makes me wonder.

I am surprised you didn't give him the regular Mike Z salute.

QUOTE: "I rarely saw fit people in handicapped spots. Know what I saw? Hogs whose only handicap was the inability to push themselves away from the table."
____________________

My meaning of 'fit' is able bodied/able to walk a few more steps. (IE: does deaf = handicapped ...in terms of parking, you MUST be kidding)

Example: Occasionally I encounter a man about my age (late 50's) at our local post office. He apparently has little/no use of his legs. Arrives (alone) in a conversion van. Unstraps his seat belt/harness, maneuvers between the front seats to his chair in the back. Side van door opens and lowers and his wheel chairs comes out on a lever system. He wheels off the ramp, closes the door (electrically) and wheels himself into the Post Office. Always smiling, cheerful, pleasant attitude. On leaving, same process in reverse, probably takes 2-3 minutes each way, painful yet sort of elegant (his rehearsed/fluid movements) to watch.

My whole point is; THIS is who Handicapped Parking spots are for! Not some self-absorbed idiot that thinks his/her time is more precious than anyone else's.

I agree with the majority of people in handicap spots being fat-assed welfare cases. This sort of stuff seems to attract that type, that feel society owes them something. Like more candy.:D Since when is fat and lazy a legit handicap?

What really cracks me up: fat people in the electric powered carts in Wal Mart. Does it not dawn on people that walking=exercise=weight loss?

Thankfully down here it's not quite the same (yet)...I haven't seen any "I'm so fat I can't walk" cases with handicapped stickers. But you can bet it's coming :(.

What I DO see is the elderly couple, husband pushing wheelchair looking almost as frail as his wife; struggling to do their shopping etc. And those SOBs who park in the handicapped spots couldn't give a toss if Mr and Mrs have to use narrower parking spots whereby it's almost impossible to wheel the chair up to the car and open the door fully enough in order to get in.

Australia is becoming a FAT nation - the stats are frightening. Hell, walking around the shops is frightening! I cannot believe the number of fat kids I see - girls from say 12 - 20 who are just plain fat; mirrors of their mothers walking beside them. There is no excuse except for what goes in their shopping trolleys and how much time they spend flopping on the couch gorging the crap they buy :(. NOT happening in MY house!!!

Thanks, Denis...kids talk about you and Romeo all the time:cool:

I was playing golf several years back when one of the guys in the foursome saw a funeral procession going by.
He stopped and held his cap over his heart and said a prayer. After he said amen I commented that was a cool thing he did.

He said "it was the least I could do, after all we were married for 28 years."

love it.

I see a lot of rudeness here in the city. I'm just glad I wasn't raised by wolves.