Where are our manners?

I read a blog of a good friend Dan Newman this morning and it spurred this thought about some basic principles of being a quality person. Respect, decency, kindness and being polite to others. This is one of those topics that can get me really fired up.

Here is a quick test for males:

1. Do you open the door of the car for your spouse / girlfriend? 2. Do you ever hold the door open for others to pass especially women?

3. Do you allow people to merge in traffic?

4. Do you ever take a shopping cart from a stranger and returned it to cart holder?

5. Do you smile and look people in the eye?

6. Do you reach your hand out to greet strangers?

7. Do you get up when strangers enter the room?

I could keep going, but that is enough to give you an idea of what i am talking about. What happened in our society? These are core principles, not of just southern gentlemen, that every man and women should follow. This starts with training our children to be polite, respect their elders, look people in the eye, have a firm handshake, and not allowing them to TALK BACK or roll their eyes. It really is a matter of deciding we want to be decent & kind and sharing that philosophy with others.