Dial M For Manners

At what point in time did manners become obsolete? As someone who takes great pride in the way I was brought up and having manners, I find it incredibly disheartening that the idea of courtesy has seemingly gone by the wayside. Not to say it's gone entirely, but Jesus. A simple "please, thank you, or excuse me" goes very far. I wish more people realized that.

Credit: (Pinterest)

I've been on dates where the man has not taken the HOOD OF HIS HOODIE OFF OF HIS HEAD (yes, I think that warrants all capital letters). That's not just showing me a blatant disrespect, that's making you like an uneducated buffoon. Some tips: On a date, make it a priority to tell the other person how nice they look (goes both ways, Sister Christian), hold the door open, pull out her chair, DON'T USE YOUR MENU AS A COASTER (Jesus H. Christ, were you raised in a barn?), and engage in conversation that's not one sided. It may turn out you have nothing in common and therefore not much to talk about, but try to refrain from jokes that won't get you a second date.

I realize that not everyone was raised the same way, that's what makes us all different and the delightful people we are! But, you would think common sense would take over at some point. And look, I'm not a mother (to my knowledge), but when your child is saying "Get me that, Mom. Give it to me, Mom. Now." with no utterance of "please" or "thank you," just know that my heart dies a little. It's unfathomable to me how parents give their kids whatever they want, give them phones at 7 years old. Instead of being your kids' parent, many parents are more interested in being their kids' friend, which I'm sorry, causes a generation of entitled dicks. Your kids aren't going to hate you 10 years from now because you didn't buy them that toy. Do yourself and the rest of society a favor and teach your children respect from the get go. 

And look, kids will be kids. Not everything falls to the parents. You can't expect 5 year olds to be perfect little angels all the time. But, you can give them the necessary tools to start them in the right direction.

How far do you expect to get in life if you treat everyone with a rude and cold demeanor? How far do you expect to get by saying "Gimme gimme gimme," instead of "Hey, let's talk this out." Courtesy, to me anyways, is of the utmost importance. "Oh, you're running late for work? Sure, cut ahead of me in line." Courtesy isn't throwing your middle finger up because someone won't let you into traffic (which look, I may be guilty of. MAYBE). Well, I really only throw it up when someone cuts me off. I'm trying to work on my road rage, alright?

Work hard, be a good person, realize a sense of entitlement gets you nowhere, and add more pleases and thank yous to your day. We're all human, we all fuck up, we all have days where we want to give the world the middle finger, but if we exude that kindness to our fellow humans, that kindness will come back tenfold. Promise.