Are Manners Passé?

There I was sitting in the car dealership’s nicely appointed waiting room killing time with a crossword,  occasionally glancing up at the TV news, waiting for my winter tires to be installed and oil changed.

Since it was a Wednesday, there were not too many people waiting and quite a number of chairs were vacant.  I was sitting in a chair at the end of a row of three rows forming a “U”. In the centre of this “U” was a huge, round coffee table.

In came a middle-aged woman who sat in the end chair in the row to my left and proceeded to take off her shoes. She then planted her feet on the table. I mentioned her being middle-aged as we tend to ascribe bad behaviour and lack of manners to young people, rightly or wrongly.

She sat there reading a book like she was in her living room and not in a public waiting area of a business. I was surprised but really, I should not be as we have seen people put their feet on seats on trains and in movie theatres, put their bags on the seat next to them depriving another of a seat, spit on the sidewalk, push ahead of others in line, bump in to others without a glance, furthermore an “excuse me”, talk during live performances, speak loudly and about personal business on cell phones, park in no parking areas outside the supermarket forcing traffic into one lane and the list goes on.

To say anything to the offender may risk being told off in the most colourful language and in extreme cases, one`s life. So we just look away and hope someone else would take up the challenge or that we could soon complete whatever mission we are on and depart from the presence of the ill-mannered.

Will keep you posted.