by Yael Eylat-Tanaka

Created on: August 09, 2009   Last Updated: August 10, 2009

Bad Manners in Modern Society

I have been ranting resentfully for years at the level of rudeness in our society and, more specifically, in South Florida. Having recently relocated to the center of the state, my husband and I are continually surprised when strangers say thank you, or hold the door open for you when you cross at a restaurant. It's refreshing after 40 years down south in Miami. Miami has become lawless and scary. Driver's weave in and out, almost no one uses turn signals, running red lights is rampant, not to mention driving while talking on one's cell phone, or worse, reading a novel while driving. I kid you not!

In restaurants, almost all children are allowed to run around at will, raising their voices and acting as if they're at recess, with nary a corrective word from their parents. In fact, my husband and I were in conference with a car salesman, while a mother and her child were in the waiting room, with the child acting as if he had been fed three candy bars before arriving. He was jumping on the chairs, screaming and tearing the magazines, while his mother sat talking on the phone. At one point, I turned impatiently toward them, but before saying anything, the young mother attacked me with a barrage of profanities that was absolutely shocking. Of course, the child heard and witnessed that behavior, and will incorporate that lesson into his repertoire. It does not serve children well to dishonor their fellowman this way. Children need guidance, and they need to learn the essential social grease that's necessary for harmonious living.

In the office, too, the workers who do not have a basic core of good manners, are also likely to behave, shall we say, less than professionally. I had occasion to contact a Mr. Johnson and reached his secretary instead. When I asked to speak with Mr. Johnson, her response was He's busy. Such retorts reflect poorly on the entire corporation, and do not lend themselves to encouraging continued business with that concern.

Then, there is this proclivity for people to use offensive language, as if it's so familiar nowadays that it should no longer rankle anyone within earshot. Four-letter words are commonplace even in public places, when people speak on their cell phones in restaurants or in libraries, in hospital waiting rooms, in doctors' offices. The people using that crass language are deluding themselves if they think their language is their own property; it is not. In fact, language is

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>