I was a kid in the 50's and lived in New England until I was ten. There were rules for everything. How you greeted people had a set of rules. How you ate had another set. How you addressed the police, the firefighters, or sheriffs deputies had it's own set. The rules for treating a lady you were accompanying were pages long. By the time you were ten you knew who Emily Post was and you were sure that your mother and all other mothers in your world read her every night. It was called etiquette. It still exists but it seems to be practiced rarely particularly by the young.
The reason you learned and practiced all of this was simple. To not do so would reflect poorly on your parents and nobody wanted that. All you have to do is go to the grocery store to realize that mind set has almost completely disappeared.
In any case, being well mannered entails deference for others. No deference for others leads to coarseness in speech and actions. That's where our society is now.
LL had a signature line which expressed this well.
The reason you learned and practiced all of this was simple. To not do so would reflect poorly on your parents and nobody wanted that. All you have to do is go to the grocery store to realize that mind set has almost completely disappeared.
In any case, being well mannered entails deference for others. No deference for others leads to coarseness in speech and actions. That's where our society is now.
LL had a signature line which expressed this well.
