Tuesday, August 2, 2011

There was a time when people had manners

This week I am wearing the working mum hat. I am sure as all working mums its a mixture of a glimmer of the former pre-little person life but also the guilt of not being there. At least I am not calling home every hour (which must have been truly annoying for whoever was minding Princess A).



Currently I am sitting at Melbourne Airport, and I have never really noticed it before, but there is a gentleman sitting a little way away who has spent the whole hour I have been here talking to people. Although this is interesting, I sat here wondering ... Do I do this too? Am I as irritating to others. Part of me wanted to lean over and give him my business card, but then that would demonstrate that I was listening in to his conversation. He was quite rude the whole time, loud, obnoxious, and had I really wanted some personal time, it would have been impossible.



I have been thinking this a fair bit lately, this morning I was listening to the radio on my way to the client, and they were discussing parents who show their pictures of their children to friends and acquaintances without realising that others aren't interested, don't care and frankly think this is just bragging. Do I do this? I mean I think Princess A is just the most beautiful, clever, brilliant child in the world. Am I boring the people around me with endless chatter about my "perfect" child? Is it bad manners to talk about ones own children? or about oneself?



I am starting to wonder whether people are losing their manners. What happens to a simple "thank you". Am I old fashioned for wanting to instill this in my child? People don't really send thank you cards anymore, don't wave in traffic when you let them in, are constantly in a rush and frankly in my work life, seem to be out for themselves to better their position (financial / status etc) at the detriment of the people around them. Have you noticed that people seem to have a disregard for others?



It seems that table manners have dissappeard, many kids only rarely sit at the table to eat a meal. I have to say in the haste of choking a meal down in Princess A's early life, my table manners started to slip and left alot to be desired, eating with one hand whilst attempting to breast feed, or pat, or cuddle just didn't really leave much room for ettiquete. Having said that, we now eat at the dinner table every night, with Princess A, A and I love food, and frankly, communual eating, sharing a meal is part of domestic bliss.







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