So there’s this girl… Annnndd she’s beautiful and perfect and wonderful and I love her with every fiber of my being. Her name is Lauren and she’s been my best friend for almost 11 years. Anyway, Lauren recently transfered from her so-so life at Sonoma State University to Georgia Southern. She absolutely loves the South and her passion for it, and my history of dating “Southern gentleman”–in reality, they’re still just as bad–got me curious about the South and southern culture and all the pretty little delicacies that have since been overlooked by us “Yanks.”
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I could write up some post summarizing the basics of etiquette (where the fork goes, who shakes hands first, how to dress) and I may later, but I was instead just trying to bring light to the fact that etiquette, to a large degree, no longer exists. I mentioned this briefly I think in an earlier post about email etiquette, but people have lot their class.
Remember in the early days after September 11th, everyone was so nice? Drivers didn’t cut each other off, people paid for the person behind them in the Starbucks line and opened doors for each other. People smiled. It’s sad to think that it took a catastrophe of that magnitude to catalyze people to act with such basic politeness.
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I suppose you could also look t the loss of etiquette as a reflection of the post-fiminism ideals that swish around in young women’s minds. Yes, it’s nice to have a seat pulled out or to have dinner paid for, but underneath it all is a nervous doubt. Is he only doing this because he wants to get laid? Sad a thought as that is, feminism kind of kills etiquette.
A close friend and mentor insists that “A woman is a lady until she proves otherwise.” A little more elegance, class and ladylike behavior could never hurt.
