Do you think people are lacking 'class'?

I believe we have lost not only class, but civility. And it's a shame, because it doesn't have to be that way. Regardless of technology or velocity of life, we need to treat each other better. Even a simple "please" and "thank you". Not in a sniveling, permission-seeking way, but as acknowledgement of humanity (from one important person to another). Best summed up in the Sanskrit word "Namaste", which has no real equivalent in the West. But it's a great word with a great intention--

"That which is Highest and Finest in me greets that which is Highest and finest in you".

What a world this would be if we would all embrace this concept--Namaste.
--LEWIS

some people on these message boards lack class

i notice it in certain places.

especially the entitlement attitude. i live in a very poor very rural area..and the people here just dont care. they honesty purposely will try to swerve to hit an animal on the road. they dont use turn signals. they dont say excuse me when they need past you, they just push.

but just a few mins down the road there is a town full of the bohemian hippy types.. worldly and they are kind and actually thoughtful and polite.

This.

Yes and no. I think people were always this way, but they hid it behind doors and the topics were different. My grandma has talked about "negros" before to me. I would never call someone a negro. Our topics that we're talking about a different, and now it's socially acceptable to discuss those topics out of the home more, and that's why you hear it.

Yes and no. In so many cases I see bad language, rude behaviour and downright nastiness. But then, I get a pleasant surprise when I see someone who I might judge (I know I shouldn't, but I do) talking politely, helping someone out etc.

Yes. I do. But we will raise our boys to be men. Yes mam and No Sir. Thank you and can I help you with that. They know to give up there seat for an adult. Woman are not called names but cherished and respected. There Dad has the last say and money doesn't grow on trees. They know that a day may come where they have to fight for family and or country. And If it does, they won't do it with pants sagging half way down their behinds. A's and b's are expected. As one day hard work will be. Strict? Old fashioned? Yes.

The other day in traffic I got shown the bird by two different people and they were doing the wrong thing...

Yes. I do. But we will raise our boys to be men. Yes mam and No Sir. Thank you and can I help you with that. They know to give up there seat for an adult. Woman are not called names but cherished and respected. There Dad has the last say and money doesn't grow on trees. They know that a day may come where they have to fight for family and or country. And If it does, they won't do it with pants sagging half way down their behinds. A's and b's are expected. As one day hard work will be. Strict? Old fashioned? Yes.

amen to this! this is what we do with our boys also! I am constantly being told how polite and well mannered our children are. also I am constantly in shock when another persons child talks back and calls their parents cuss words to their face, and they are allowed to get away with it! then the parent blames the school. well my children went to the same exact school as theirs did and mine are getting good grades and dont do drugs and are respectful, like to have boundaries placed on them, and enjoy spending time with their parents. go figure!

Probably not class, but lacking respect. Especially today's kids who don't respect anyone, including theirselves, and are very self-centered.

YES. I think this is the bigger problem.

I don't necessarily think that a lack of civility is a generational thing. I work in food service, and most people are quite nice when I smile and greet them. However, I am far more likely to have my greetings ignored by an older person. Are they really in such a hurry that "Hi, how are you?" needs to be followed immediately by "Gimme a cheesebrger"? Maybe some people have tired of the social veneer they have put on, and feel that please and thank you is no longer needed in daily interactions?

Class and respect are the same thing. You can't have one without the other.

The problem is that parents don't take responsibility for raising their children to be responsible, respectful, productive members of society anymore. They blame all their kids' problems on other people and other things ... teachers, coaches, friends, parents of other kids, medicine they're taking for made-up "syndromes," etc.

My dad was also the type who would pull aside grown men and young boys alike and politely ask them to refrain from cursing in front of my mom, my sister, and me. So I grew up believing that a man who curses in my presence is a man who has no respect for me, and I still believe that. It has nothing to do with what year or decade it is or what generation currently reigns supreme in re-establishing social norms. There will never be a time when cursing in the presence of women or children is acceptable to me.

And that is just one example of crass behavior that is better left for the locker room. But boys have to be taught that from a very early age. If they're not learning it at home and if they have no other adult male role model to learn it from, they're just going to continue the cycle of boorishness.

And don't even get me started on what the feminist movement has done to the way women are now viewed and treated.

It's because these days children are all taught in school that they're entitled to get what they want. They're not allowed to fail, they're not allowed to excel, they aren't taught manners, and they aren't punished when they're obnoxious or disrespectful to others.

I think teachers have less control these days...

If teachers have less control, it's because we're not allowed to. I refer a student to the office for disrupting class and from the uproar caused by them and their parents, you'd think I was sentencing them to the federal penitentiary. This lack of control that people perceive that we teachers have is not because of us not doing our jobs, it's because of parents feeling their precious snowflakes can do no wrong.

It's because these days children are all taught in school that they're entitled to get what they want. They're not allowed to fail, they're not allowed to excel, they aren't taught manners, and they aren't punished when they're obnoxious or disrespectful to others.

I'm not attacking you, but I hear this quite often and I just have to say that this is not the case with my son and his school. He's always been held accountable for his school work and his behavior, both by his teachers and at home. Not all children are a-holes and not all schools allow them to be.

yes society is declining. it's not technology. It's because the NUCLEAR family is declining and these people are raising themselves. Just as you said. You had a father and a mother who TAUGHT you manners and how to behave in society. WE are the fortunate ones. People who behave poorly either were never taught differently or dropped on their heads too much.
I am like your dad. IF someone's rude behavior bleeds over to MY family I will tell them about it politely ONCE... then it's on.
Generally, I don't have to follow up .. but I will if I have to and MY family - my kids & grandkids KNOW it. MY adult children know that they can be *kitten* around their friends but IT WILL NOT FLY with me.
I'm old-school with the manners to match. I live in a way that honors my grandmother and parents. I hope I've taught my children that as well.
I know I can't be the etiquette police for all of society so I just worry about MYself and MY home.
Teach your children manners. Enforce it every day. That's all we can do

Ooooh, yes.

It appears that many people got a memo stating, "You are entitled to things you haven't earned. You deserve more and more and more without effort. Don't let anyone tell you hard work is the path to success. You don't have to work hard, you deserve everything NOW."

If my parents got that memo, they forgot to pass it along to me. They were soooo mean, that if I had Girl Scout cookies or other other fundraiser stuff to sell, they made me actually go out and sell it. ME!!!! Like it was my responsibility to actually work for my organization.

Child Labor Laws? Pfft ... my dad had a deaf ear to that rig-a-ma-roar.

And I'm gonna tell you what, I'm a better person for it.