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| Even American Republicans hug one another1 |
Several years ago I was in a friend’s house in Cleveland Ohio, he was on the phone talking to his son who was in the navy, he signed off with “I love you Steve, take care of yourself”.
“I Love you ?” I had never told my kids that nor had I been told that by my parents, “I love you” was for intimate occasions only!
On Facebook it must be the most frequently used expression, especially between young girls, they all love one another and delight to tell each other how beautiful they are.
I was brought up during a time of social restraint, you might call somebody a fool but never give praise, you might shake hands but never give a hug, and as for a kiss on the cheek, well that was almost pornographic!
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| The Queen of England hugging Mrs, Obama! |
Yet for all this gushing of sentiment what has happened to good manners? We were taught to give up our seat to a lady if the bus was full, to hold the door open for others to pass through, to raise your hat when meeting someone and to always remove your hat indoors.
Now, many is the times I’ve had a door slammed in my face or watched in disgust as a pregnant woman has been left standing in the subway car while young folk sit comfortable texting one another, and I have friends who cannot remove their well worn baseball hat, I wonder if they shower wearing it.
But social norms change, in those “good old days” of well mannered people it was considered acceptable to light up a cigarette anywhere, even the seats in the cinema had built in ash trays, and I must say I would prefer a hug anytime to sitting in a cloud of smoke for two hours.
Now my wife tells me hugging is not as dangerous for spreading germs as shaking hands, so I’m confused - I think I’ll keep to myself!
We were also taught to always stand up when an adult came into the room, or in the rare instance when we ate out, to stand if an adult came over to our table.
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