Good Manners still Exist

Howdy Ma’am

One day, I was pleasantly reminded that good manners still exist in today’s world. As I walked across the campus of my Alma mater, West Texas A&M University in Canyon, numerous young men held the door open for me, usually with a friendly “Hello” or “How’re ya doin’ Ma’am?”. Typical of this Texas campus, the young gentlemen usually sported a ball cap, Wrangler jeans, and dusty boots, however just as many had tattooed arms, fly-away locks and body piercings. The kindness expressed by these students reminded me that common courtesy is not just a thing of the past. Good manners and respect is alive and well in today’s youth.

In this world of saying what you think, loud and often, no matter how rude or obnoxious or how it might annihilate another persons life, my mother’s voice swirls in my head. “We don’t talk ugly about other people,” she always said. My grandmother took it to the next level with her version of Southern manners: never wear white shoes to Church before Easter, no open-toed sandals after Labor Day, and give your rural route mail carrier delicious baked goods often.

Is Ugly a Verb? 

These two women used to drive me crazy. Not by their use of ugly as a verb, but with their unending list of ‘properness’.  As a parent,  we insist and preach and yell daily, but we never know if anything sticks. Sometimes it does, but you may never know it.

Mother’s Rejoice

FYI WT Moms: you should know that your college boy is minding his manners and doing just fine.