Miss Manners would not be happy...

Recently, I witnessed something very disturbing. I saw 2 teenagers chewing their food, mouth wide open with each bite. These kids were at least aged 15 and should know better. I could hear them smacking their food over the sounds of the amusement park around us.

It would be easy to write this off to just some clueless teenagers. The problem is you can see this everywhere. Kids and then adults of all ages chew food with their mouth open. What is worse is the way people smack gum. We can often hear people smacking their gum in all kinds of situations. This past Sunday, I sat next to someone in church smacking away. To make matters worse, she popped a bubble. In church! I do not think there is anything dumber looking than seeing someone chewing gum like a cow chews its cud.

It is not just eating where we can see manners lacking. This past summer I was attending a large group session at the conference center where I work. I ended up holding the door open for about 700 people. Of that number, 1 said "thank you." This little girl about 10 years old was the only one to express any type of gratitude. Adults, teenagers and other younger children walked through the door, yet no one else said "thank you." In fact most of the adults would not even look me in the eye.

This past Friday night, I attended a high school football game. The public address announcer frequently read a statement saying that this was a tobacco free campus. In addition, there were signs around making the same statement. That did not stop several folks from smoking. And apparently smokeless tobacco is not actually tobacco. At least at that school.

What I think we are seeing is that our society cares less and less for any type of traditional social norms and doing what is right. Just look around and we can see a lack of respect for anyone in authority. I do not mean we should never question authority or that we should obey blindly. We should show those in leadership positions respect. And we should show our fellow people respect. There are too many who simply leave their shopping carts in the middle of the parking lot and too many that throw their cigarettes out on the street. Too often, we are simply rude. I wonder why? Why have we slipped so far in regards to showing simple respect to others?

I think if we showed caring and respect for others, imagine how the world would change. That would be change I could believe in.