Social Rant - Manners (or there lack of…)

Gone are the days where youths have respect for their elders. It is more infrequent to see a young person give up their seats for the elderly, or even help an old lady cross the road.
There are so many rude, obnoxious people out there. The young people of today, 'generation Y', are mainly rude, loud and have no regard for those around them, or their environment. This IS a generalisation, obviously there are still respectful people out there. Not only the young, even middle age people too. Everyone is so angry! Road rage, riots, violence. Where is their respect for themselves and others?

I am a very strong believer in manners. I always say 'please' and ' thank you' where it is due. I always let the elderly people get on a bus before me so they have adequate time to find their seat and sit down before the bus moves. If I bump into a person, even if it is their fault, my reaction is to say 'excuse me'. Nowadays though, I have been trying to only say 'excuse me' to those who deserve it, as most jerks who bump into me have no manners and just stomp off.

I truly believe that the world would be a cleaner, safer and nicer place if we all had manners. If everyone had the sense to throw their rubbish in the bin, imagine how much cleaner the streets and public areas would be. If everyone had more courtesy, imagine how much safer the world would be. If everyone respected each other, oh how nice that would be!

But no. Unfortunately these days parents and teachers do not seem to strictly enforce the teachings of manners onto their children and students respectively. I am in my mid to late twenties, and even my 'generation X's' manners were fleeting in my time of youth and impressionist days. It really saddens me to see that everyone is so rude, so selfish and so complacent about the little things, such as a 'good day sir' or a 'thank you ma'am' that we're all angry, bitter and sad.

So, please, I implore you, the next time you see an old person, treat them with respect. If someone does something nice for you, say thank you. Being polite and having general manners is such a beautiful trait. Let us enforce it to the youth and everyone toremember about respecting yourself, and others.

Thank you...