Do you remeber the old sayings "Manners maketh the man" and "Good manners cost nothing"?

Do you think they apply these days or are manners a thing of the past?

I guess this is a bit of a rant really as last night and tonight, I waited for someone to come and collect a desk they said they wanted. They didn't turn up and didn't even have the curtesy to phone or email to say sorry. Their inbox is full so I couldn't even send a message!

Now I as brought up to believe that manners were important and I have raised my two children to think the same. Good manners will get you far in life and will earn you the respect of others. Please, thank you and the like take little effort but mean such a lot.

Am I just being old fashioned or do you think that manners are as important today as they used to be? Do you consider yourself polite and how do you find other peoples manners?

PS I now have a perfectly good computer desk free to a good home again!! (see for sale ad!)

Manners are nice - even amoung the fiendishly evil like myself - they make the world a bit more pleasent for everyone unfortunately they seem to have taken a back seat to 'attitude' :(

Manners are or should be as important today as they ever were.

I regularly get comments from people about my son, who is 8, saying please and thank you and excuse me etc. He is a very polite young man and has been brought up to be so. What upsets me is that people are pleasantly surprised that he is polite and well mannered !

Manners cost nothing and make the world of difference!

Originally posted by beckb

I regularly get comments from people about my son, who is 8, saying please and thank you and excuse me etc. He is a very polite young man and has been brought up to be so. What upsets me is that people are pleasantly surprised that he is polite and well mannered !


I was in the Malin chippy saturday lunchtime and was surprised by a young lad saying please and thank you. And yes, I was surprised. Sad state of affairs really when I'm more surprised that a young lad is polite, than I would be shocked if the same lad told me to "f*** off"

It is a sad state of affairs. I guess its all down to how people are brought up.

I used to live in the states and for all their "Have a nice day Ma'am" and phony niceness - they never say thankyou to waiters, shop assistants etc - they were amazed at my quaint English politeness!

It's one of my pet hates is bad manners..

Like they say, manners cost nothing and I'm glad to say both my kids have good manners.

I'm always amazed at the reaction of old ladies when you hold doors open or give up your seat.. I can't believe it's so unusual to them. I always respect my elders even if they don't always deserve it. I can't always get it through to my kids but I try LOL

Once I had a run in with an elderly person as was more than a little hurt when I behaved like a decent person.

Tram was absolutely packed and a little old lady comes on board and as (I hope) I have been brought up correctly I offered said lady my seat and she said something along the lines of
"I may be old but I can still stand up!"

people complain about the young but jeez some old people havnt got the manners they were born with and Id know I work with most of them!!!!!

Hmm. It isn't always how you are brought up. My parents have always taught me to be polite and mind my language.

Up until a few months ago I never swore and would always put others before myself. Lately though I just can't be bothered.

Since going to college I realised that I was only one of a few who actually cared about manners. Even the tutors swore so I eventually thought that why should I bother trying to be polite?

Maybe quite alot of it is peer pressure then.

Hmm yeah. I agree. There seems to be loads of old bags in Sheffield! ;)

I'm amazed at how few children and teenagers actually know how to say please and thank-you. Then you look at their parents and see why.

My pet hate in terms of bad manners is people who answer their mobile phone when you're talking to them. I see this often for example where someone is being served at a counter in a shop. Their mobile will ring and they will answer it, ignoring the person serving them and everyone else who's waiting behind them. Very rude. :nono:

Another one is people who push their way onto a bus/tram without waiting to let people get off first. How hard is it to let the people get off? It's in your interests too because it means there will be more space on the bus/tram. :huh:

Another one is people who let their kids run wild in shops, knocking over displays, pulling things off shelves and having tantrums. Then they shout at them and tell them they're not going to McDonalds unless they behave. A shop may be a public place but it's still someone's workplace and they have a right to work without chavish mothers and their children causing chaos. :mad:

Rant over! :rant:

i agree. manners cost nothing and take no more time than being rude. it spreads warmth and happiness (apart from to old ladies on trams!)

I have just come back from a holiday abroad and would back up the comments about americans too. Hardly ever heard them say thank you for anything or excuse me when they shoved you out of the way.

i overheard a few american teenagers talking about the subject because a local italian had told them they were a rude race and they were not allowed in his shop (good on him!!) but they were generally upset at this and could not understand how they, middle class americans could be thought of as rude. I was dying to go over there and explain, but it was too hot and i couldn;t be bothered.

I really fancy going to the US one day , but its too full of americans!

ooooo, didn't know I felt as strongly as this until I got going. apologies for making outlandish comments about a whole race at once as I am sure there will be plenty of exceptions. hopefully the ones i have met are in the minority........

People always being late is the height of bad manners as far as I am concerned. There is an arrogance in thinking that you are SO important that others will listen to half baked excuses as to why you couldn't make it on time, again.

I moved from a village out side Chester to Sheffield in 1995 so I could study at University.

The first thing that struck me was the comparative lack of manners. If I passed someone in the street in my village It would be concidered to be rude if I didn't say hello. On the other hand when I say hello to a stranger on the streets of Sheffield they look at me as if they think I'm going to mug them.

The same in bars. I have worked in pubs in Sheffield and Chester, the big difference is the complete lack of please's and thank you's in Sheffield. It used to drive me mad.

Why are people so rude to one another here?

It isn't just Sheffield. All cities are like this.
I once lived in a village and true the adults did always greet each other in the street. As for the chavish kids though I never heard such language from them.

They were little gits. Chucking bricks through windows, joyriding round the village at three am, thats why I came back to Sheffield. :(

Kids need sorting out. I can say this easily since until recently I was a kid (Although some may still consider me a kid.) I for one think that lessons in etiquette would be good for kids although more than likely they wouldn’t help.

I have always believed manners are important. I think so even more now that I am being forced to sell my home because of the total lack of manners (amongst other things) from my neighbour and her children. I dont think they have ever heard of respect and manners, which I think go hand in hand. Fortunately I do have a good social circle full of people with manners and respect, so as long as there are still some of us around to keep it going, this admirable characteristic will not die!!!!!!!

I'll agree that manners cost nothing and it's very sad that they seem to be less and less apparent as the days go on.

Hardly anyone lets you out at junctions anymore. It can take ages to get out of a busy junction (especially turning right) and I often have to wait for a space on my side and then pull across and stop the traffic until someone on the other side feels guilty enough to stop and let me out.

People often can't be bothered to say 'thank you' when you hold a door open for them or let them go in front of you. It doesn't take much to acknowledge that someone has been nice and thank them for it. If this happens to me I often say 'Oh you're welcome!' loud enough for them to hear. Makes me feel better anyway.

People sometimes don't say thank you when you stop your car to let them pass. Shame they're often past you before you can give them 'the look'.

So many people prefer to give attitude and attempt to be moody and cool rather than be nice, sorry to say but it does seem to be the younger generation that is most guilty of this. I have developed a deep-rooted disgust of the chav culture that is fast developing in this city (and country).

People seem to be scared of making eye contact with each other on the streets. I always look people in the eyes when I pass them and if our eyes meet I always try to smile. I rarely get chance though because they are so wrapped up in themselves that they don't have time to be pleasant. I travelled through a few Scottish villages last year and people often said hi to each other on the streets. I found it really refreshing and felt really disappointed when I came back to Sheffield where everyone is scared to look at each other. So sad. :(

I'm sure there are other things that wind me up but I'll cut my rant here. Aaaaaah, feels better already. :thumbsup: