by Nanette Piotrowski

Created on: July 24, 2011   Last Updated: July 25, 2011

Approach any senior over the age of 65 with this statement and you will get an affirmative reply and a list of manners lost. Now those aged 45-65 who would have been their children would also attest to the lack of manners in the 45 and younger category.

So somewhere after 1966, things have seriously taken a downturn when it comes to manners. Particularly over the last 20-30 years which would encompass those senior grandchildren and great grandchildren. How is it possible for manners to have eroded in just 3 to 4 generations?

The seniors will tell you that if there wasn't a 'please' and 'thank you' or a 'yes ma'am' or 'no sir', serious consequences were about to take place. If you were told to do something there was no discussion; it was done.

Neighbors helped neighbors, the elderly were assisted walking across a street, doors were held open for someone coming in and out of a business or car.

Was it the start of the Hippie generation in the 70's that brought about the "I don't care attitude" or "Me first, too bad for you"?

Today proper etiquette or social manners are all but forgotten. It is a rarity to hear 'please' and 'thank you'. Opening a car door is unheard of and most people would rather see you struggle to leave a business with your arms loaded than to hold that door open for you.

Common courtesy is gone. People think nothing of cutting in front of you in a grocery line or cutting you off in traffic, whether you have the right of way or not. Being rude is at an all time high.

Most people don't even know who their neighbors are, let alone lend a helping hand. Children who in times passed would have had their mouths washed out with soap for being rude or swearing, find that today it is perfectly acceptable to witness that type of behavior.

The elderly are treated with disdain and as a burden, and someone not worth talking to and considered a nuisance in this fast-paced world, instead of their value as a wealth of knowledge.

Even small-town, USA has seen manners lost in our contemporary age. If you smile and say 'hello' to someone, they look at you as if to say, "What do you want!"

Will we ever again see the manners and respect once generated by our elders or has the world just gotten to the point that they just don't care anymore?

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