No Soup For You!!!!!

Friday mornings see me taking my little neighbor lady to get her hair done and out for lunch. While she is doing her thing, I can be found at Starbucks (read:fourbucks), where I sit with my coffee (just regular old brewed, thankyouverymuch) and observe the world as it passes by. Some of what I see amazes and astounds me, and not in a good way. Really.

The phenomenon known as bluetooth? HATE. I detest it. That perfectly sane looking people consider it acceptable to have complete conversations with someone who is whispering in their ear while carrying on simultaneous conversations with the people they are accompanied by? Beyond the realm of what I consider basic decency and respect. I just cannot fathom it. Or people talking on them while using public facilities? Excuse me? Can whatever you need to say not wait until you finish up and flush? I cannot imagine. A public restroom, especially. Gawd! In that regard, I guess washing ones hands would be a stretch of the imagination.

The very well-dressed middle aged lady that I witnessed blowing a snot-rocket on the ground as she made her way into Costco? *RETCH* You eat with those very same hands you wiped your nose with?? Repulsive. Enough so that I made it known, out loud, as she walked by me. I believe I could be heard shrieking and cringing away from her for city blocks. I am certain that she could have found a Kleenex in Costco, had she restrained herself. Do these people not even have basic manners??

Call me a manner Nazi if you'd like, but I am a hard-ass. I blame it on my upbringing. No, actually, I THANK my upbringing. It went something like this:

Sit up straight. Shoulders back. Stomach in. Elbows off the table. Chew with your mouth closed. Set your fork down between bites. That is a salad fork, not an entree fork. Hold your fork like this, not like that. Use a gentle sawing motion with your knife, don't hack at it. And so on...

Kinda sounds like my parents were manner-Nazi's as well, doesn't it? Thank God! I can cheerfully sit through any meal with anyone, regardless of their station in life and know that I will not show my ass. (At least not because of how I eat, anyway. There is no telling what may or may not come out of my mouth, however, much to the chagrin of my parents; who can be heard muttering that they raised me to be a lady and not a sailor on any given day) I know which utensil is used for what, what a proper table setting is and how to present myself. It is called civilized, people! It does NOT entail chewing something and deciding midway that I do not like it and spitting the offending matter out onto my plate. Nor does it mean sitting up to a table as though I am half participating, legs off to the side of my chair, or spinning my fork around in my hand like it is a baton.

Ask the men in my life. I am constantly parroting what I heard growing up and I tell you with pride that my son also knows how to eat properly. He will address you as Sir or Ma'am out of respect, if you ask him a question. He will open the door for a lady and/or hold it open if someone approaches him as he reaches the entrance somewhere. He will walk on the outside of a sidewalk and offer a girl the inside, out of respect, when he is old enough to date. Even now, he will open the car door for me and shut it behind me after I have seated myself. In my opinion, this is how things should be and I am proud of him for it.

I think the world is becoming less civilized because we are abandoning the very basics in our rushed lives. I believe something very important is being lost in the process.

Now aren't you glad I shared that with you??

Say it with me, people. BIT-CHAY.

I just cant help it. Some things really irritate me.