What’s a Good Penalty for Bad Manners

What is with all the frustration and anger lately. It seems like everywhere you turn people have a short fuse. Just last week I had an encounter with a road crew worker that left me actually saying out loud "are you kidding me, walk over here and say that to me in a more civil tone before I walk over there and call your boss." For the record I don't believe either one of us was very respectful of each other but I am standing firmly in the "He started it" square.

This incident did get me thinking, why is everyone so angry? Is it the hot weather we can't seem to shake in the Hudson Valley this summer? Or is it what the media is saying, that we are all just being influence by the current state of politics in our country. Both of those are possible reasons for the escalation but I believe there is one simple reason and that is that we have all forgotten our manners.

I grew up in military family with lots of protocol for behavior in every situation. My Mother lived by her copy of Emily Post's Etiquette. Emily right now by the way would be ashamed of how sloppy we have all gotten lately with our P's and Q's, a term my Irish Grandmother liked to throw around. Emily Post's book on Etiquette is in it's 18th edition so it must have some worthwhile information or it would be out of print by now after all she wrote the first edition in 1922. This further proving that good manners never go out of style.

So let's all try to remember to be kinder to each other. Let's try to always say please and thank you. Let's treat people the way we want to be treated. And for goodness sake let's try to have good manners. It might not be easy though because apparently bad manners are contagious or at least that is the reason given in this recent interview on CBS This Morning.

And if we can learn to get along what should the penalty be for bad manners in the Hudson Valley? I say we should have to read the 18th edition of Emily Post's book Etiquette and then following it to the letter.

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