Table Manners, Etiquette & Tramp Stamps #%*

Alright, I hate to be pedantic and repeat myself but have you noticed the troglodytes traipsing through the world trying to pass themselves off as HUMAN? Or is it just me? Seriously, where have just regular niceties of living amongst other human beings gone?

How many doors have other breathing beings let slam in your face? For me, so many I can’t even count…I’m not saying I’m super woman but I do go out of my way to hold doors for others. Is it really that hard to be polite?

How’s about this, have you noticed how people use cutlery out at restaurants? It’s as if its their very first time with these new fangled inventions…Ughh, what this for? Let me stab my grub before it takes flight from this here plate, snarf, snarf. As they stab it with their left hand wielding the fork and bite half off their steak and the other half remains dangling on their fork. Their knife is sticking up in the right hand at the ready, to kill if the food isn’t quite dead. I’m talking well dressed, educated people. Did no one teach them any better? Were they raised by wolves? Perhaps they should look it up on the web like they look up the latest movie or anything else they find “important”! Find out correct eating etiquette, please get a clue!

I see young teens all the time when I’m traveling with the most atrocious table manners, probably because they’ve never had a sit down meal with their family all together other than fast-food hamburgers, chicken nuggets, fried chicken, pizza, sandwiches or tacos and they are all finger food, see a pattern? Their parents must be so proud when they finally do take them to a fancy dinner and watch them perform. That’ll really score points with their future dates, I’m sure. Just who you want to bring home to dinner and show off to Mom and Dad!

As for dress code, I think we’ve been in trouble for a while. Now I know every younger generation goes through their rebellious styles, it’s been happening forever. Usually they were always clothes that could be taken off, outgrown and thrown away. Without sounding too old-fashioned I don’t understand the mainstreaming of body art. If you are a Rocker or a real Artiste of choice I might be able to understand that a little better. You better be very invested in your cause though, because if you  go very off the beaten path with wild choices of piercings, gages and body art, you can’t go back and it’ll be hard to try to ever go Johnny 9-5 after making those choices. I do not think they are accepted in the boardroom yet and it may be a while before it’s accepted mainstream in corporate and small town America. A lot of these kids are making these choices when they are too young to think of the long term ramifications of the fact that professionals don’t have gages and neck tattoos. What do you want to do with your life in the future??? Have you thought of that, kids?? Do you want to be a professional later in life?

I’m also thinking of people ageing gracefully. A tattoo that looked good on a young tight body is going to be quite another thing on Granny‘s stretched out boobs, especially when it’s turned that ugly blue-black of age. We’re going to be seeing a whole generation of old bags with tramp stamps. Should be interesting…do you think there’s  a reason they were originally called tramp stamps ?

What do you think?

Written by Evelyn Garone 2/2011