What I'm Listening To: Sanvean (I am your shadow)-Lisa Gerrard
"I'm selfish, impatient and a little insecure. I make mistakes, I am out of control and at times hard to handle. But if you can't handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don't deserve me at my best."-Marilyn Monroe
Breeding.
All of us have it, one way or the other, and maybe some have none, but when it comes to manners, people were raised with different concepts. Some people learned that it is not polite to call elderly people by their first names, others learned that it is never good to belch without saying "excuse me" and to say "bless you" when people sneeze. "Passed on" is better than "kicked the can," "passing gas" sounds more eloquent than "farting" and it is never cool to pick your nose where people can see it. Sometimes I think that manners are almost an umbrella term for being politically correct. However, there are some basic manners that everyone should have learned in regards to being socially acceptable, like saying please and thank you. Otherwise, people would probably have a tendency to think that you are rude.
I think it is interesting that women had to go to finishing schools to learn manners and ettiquette among other things and learn things appropriate to being a lady. I mean after all, if your mother is a lady, you should have learned some of what you are from her. Is there a set in stone way to teach manners well? Apparently it was finishing school and parents paid tons of money for their daughters to become "accomplished ladies."
Having some manners is better than no manners at all. Table manners are the absolute worst. There are so many little nuances that I think it's absolutely insane to try and teach them all to a five year old. However, as people grow, I'm sure that they pick up little things if they feel like they have the need to eat gracefully (and not like a perpetual five-year old). As Marilyn said, if I can't handle you at your worst, your best might not make up for it, especially if that entails waking the dead by smacking, gnawing on and snorting on a rib bone as I'm leaving Chili's.
