Where Have You Gone Manners & Respect?

Simon and Garfunkel once asked in a song, “Where have you gone Joe DiMaggio”? I ask today, “Where have you gone manners and respect”? It’s a question that should be posed to a younger generation that far too often shows little or no respect for their elders. Case in point, my 80 plus year-old mother is walking on a sidewalk when she approaches a group of teen-agers who are hanging out. They have done nothing wrong but are taking up the entire walkway as my mother approaches. Simple etiquette would be for the group to move to allow the older person (or any person for that matter) to continue walking on the sidewalk. However they don’t consider moving and expect my mother to walk around them which she does with complete disdain.

I would like to believe if that were many years ago and I was among the teenagers gathered we would have automatically moved and let an elder walk through. I would also like to believe my children would do the same but many teens today have little or no respect for those who have been around longer than they have. It’s not just with actions like I just described but also how they speak. I was reminded yesterday by someone in my age group how we always addressed an elder with Mr. or Mrs. or Miss….whatever was appropriate. Even though I am in my 50’s there are still those who I refer to in that manner even when they insist I call them by their first name. It’s a sign of respect that was commonplace but seems to have been lost in our very informal society. This is not a life or death issue but rather more one I would describe as right and wrong. Young people should automatically have a certain amount of respect for their elders, especially if those people hold authority positions like a teacher or police officer. Yet today more and more young people not only disrespect authority figures but have no fear over any ramifications.

So who is to blame for this growing trend? It has to fall on the shoulders of parents who too often have not instilled respect in their children at a young age as a given, not an option. Maybe if they did my mother would have been able to continue walking on the sidewalk instead of around a group that probably never even gave a thought to moving.