what!!????

Hello all, back again.. I apologise for taking the weekend off but sometimes we all just need to stop and breathe.. and this weekend that's exactly what I needed to do..

That brings me immediately to my point of today's rant, yes it feels like a bit of a rant.. Manners, and lack of them.. See I just showed my manners in apologising for my lack of absence.. Why? because it felt almost as if Id let someone down.. Which I know I hadn't, but it felt that way.. Even my own kids are slowly being lost to the dark side of 'Rude' on occasion.. Manners, no one seems to have any anymore!! Whatever happened to holding the door open for someone? or greeting strangers in salutation as you pass on the street? Or simple things like 'please' and 'thank-you'? or my most favourite thing to do in the whole world, catch someones eye and just SMILE..

I'm a very lucky woman, I tend to have a number of men around me who seem to have brought forth from the dark ages, old school gentlemanly traits such as holding the door, or walking on the road side of me, or carrying anything and everything I purchase at any given time.. I used to rebel against it, but as I have gotten older I recognise it for how it is intended, a caring gesture filled with love &/or at the very least an expression of  respect..

It astounds me when we go out these days how many people just simply have bad, albeit no manners whatsoever.. In public, myself and my own children have lovely manners, and yet are never shown them, especially my children.. To the point of people knocking them down trying to get past without an 'excuse me' much less 'I'm sorry'.. It irritates me so much! I'm consistently hearing the older generations waffling on about 'bad-mannered' kids and 'kids these days have no respect' etc etc, yet in fact I see many kids & teens being very polite and helpful yet being completely disregarded and disrespected by these older folk.. and the Oldies wonder where kinds learn such bad behaviour.. ahem!!

So how do I personally deal with this issue?? Well I have found the best way without becoming aggressive or confrontational, is to be overly good mannered.. That's right, I kill people with kindness.. I smile bigger, I excuse people for them, I have even said on occasion, LOUDLY, 'Oh its ok madam, I wasn't standing in line waiting to be served, I was in actual fact waiting for the moment you would grace me with your presence, and now you have, my work is done.. Please go right ahead, Its my pleasure to allow you walk all over me, I mean be served before me'.. I do at this point generally Cheshire Cat Grin directly into their face, until their burning shame makes them hunch their back toward me and take off, internally screaming, as soon as the opportunity presents itself..

Seriously how hard is it to allow someone that 5 second head start through the door as you hold it open, or allowing a car to enter onto 'your' road.. is this what maybe it has come down to, we as humans 'MUST win' and 'oh no, its MINE'.. Well I don't accept that, so if you see a crazy haired lady walking along with kids in tow and you happen to bang into her, your fault, and give her that annoyed look instead of a shame faced apology, do not be surprised if even the tiniest one of her tribe pipes up "No worries, that's fine, She's ok'.. I guess which party has the good manners and which has the bad is all up to perception ;)

Mama, Madly.....