Miss Manners

Today seems as good of a day as any to discuss manners. What with Kanye once again asserting himself as shirtless baby man #1 and all of that and Serena Williams holding things down for the ladies with her pottymouth directed @ tennis officials. It seems that simple civility is very passe these days. Things are about to get worse as they are making our subway tunnels mobile-phone friendly - oh, how I loathe the sound of other people having intensely personal phone calls in public. I've always been keen on proper manners and social protocol as I felt that I could pass as quite adult [and quite annoying] if I could learn to behave as a proper lady. These days I don't really act like a lady at all - I curse like a longshoreman and I don't have much in the way of grace and posture. I never know what types of gifts are appropriate or when they are needed [like for wedding/baby showers and the like]. And yet, I think that I am pretty well-mannered when it comes to interacting with others [yes, I swear a lot - but never...okay, rarely...at others].

One thing that kinda shocks me is the behaviour of American politicians. I mean, I watch a lot/most/all of these state of the union and other assorted presidential addresses and I have for years. I've always wondered why they don't turn a bit ugly. Just a bit, mind you. I think it's because of the stereotype of the loud and beligerent American, frequently contrasted with the stiff upper lip Brit and the uber-polite Canadian. Because see, in both of our houses of parliament things get ugly. There's shouting and swearing galore - often targetted @ the Prime Minister. No one in the general public really bats an eye @ any of this. I mean, I find it to be pretty immature and generally disrespectful - but not just because it's sometimes directed towards the leader of my country. I think that type of rudeness really doesn't belong in a professional environment - it's tough to put a lot of trust in men and women who behave like children. That being said, I think that the reaction to the whole "You Lie!" incident is extremely overwrought. Whatever happened to the bang-bang John Wayne American cowboy that I grew up with? Boo hoo, poo poo and get over it!