A Little Southern Comfort

So I totally blame my parents... and my high school youth minister, not to mention the gentlemen at Texas A&M! Well what I blame them for is not bad it's good actually but it makes me have a high standard of folks... What am I talkin about here people is Chivalry and good manners! That's right! It's not that people this north are rude, most of the time its just simple unawareness of those around you. I was raised in a strict household of manners. My mom used to tell us to act like little adults. My Dad works for Marriott and when ever we were at the hotel or anywhere else for that matter we were to be on our best behaviour addressing everyone by Sir or Ma'am. I felt like I had done something wrong the first time a close friends mom told me to call her by her first name, or just Mom... it felt weird.

Then I get to High School, and my youth minister Allen insists on guys treating the girls of the youth group like the "Princess'" they are. The guys always carried our luggage to the buses before trips, or let us eat first at any event. And then A&M happen, where boys pick up their step to beat girls to grab the door handle, or get heckled by other guys if they are sitting on the bus while there is a female standing. Its a great culture and I miss it! I know about the Women's movement and I am all for women's rights, but I am also all for being a lady! Seriously!

Well in DC I found life is a tad different when guys I knew would open the door just enough for them to get in, again these are friends, not being rude just not going out of their way. Or I had a boss that INSISTED that I not refer to her as Ma'am. Now I get that often people telling me no or what not, I assure them it is not an age thing but an importance thing and since everyone is more important than me everyone is ma'am and sir. But she was not buying it, I told her to be honest I would much rather have her mad at me than my mom. (Keep in mind this lady is actually a big deal) She still was not buying it and thus since it was so embedded in my brain I had to put up sticky notes all around that said "No Ma'am" to remind myself not to say it. It was funny because I would often pause and say it in my head and then keep talking... yeah I'm weird.

But the biggest frustration for me here is the manners on the metro. People will do what ever they have to to push someone out of the way and get their seat! Its crazy. When a metro pulls into a station a little what I like to fondly refer to as "Tunnel of Love" forms around the doors. People make a sorta tunnel on either side for the folks on the train to disembark and then everyone boards. This is where things can get harry, people will push or slip their bag in front of someone to make it clear they are getting on first! Then they run like children to a Christmas tree for "their" seat. Its pretty crazy to watch these folks in their suits do this. I have seen a man push to a side an elderly lady with a WALKER (A WALKER PEOPLE!!) to get a seat only to close his eyes slip on his head phones and act like it never happened! But I have also been blessed to see some good folks too.

So what is the point of this blog, I think if we were all a bit more hospitable to people we would have a much happier world. You have no idea what that person has been through in their day to get to the moment you meet them, so if they are rude or nice, be kind, smile and be polite it can mean the world to someone. And manners are not dead in this day and age, if we just respect each other.