You Don’t Have To Be Southern To Have Manners

Do you look around as much as I do and wonder where all the manners have gone? This modern world we live in has made us forget what manners are! I think it is worse in some areas of the country than in others.  Southern hospitality is a real thing, folks! But I think it’s even waning in the South a bit. It makes my heart hurt a bit. Okay, a lot! Today we are chatting about how you don’t have to be Southern to have manners.

I was lucky enough to grow up with parents that taught my sisters and me manners. They also instilled in me the difference between right and wrong. I understand everyone is not this lucky. We all have bad days, I get that! But it has been the slow unraveling of our kindness towards one another which is sad. We live in the “me” world.

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Opening Doors

Have you ever had a door slammed in your face? Either intentionally or not?! Either opening a door or holding open a door for another person is kind and respectful. It is a nice gesture for everyone regardless of their gender.

Be aware of your surroundings, are you walking into a store? Is someone coming out at the same time or following close behind you? Hold the door for them. If you want to get crazy, add in a smile and say hi!

Table Manners

We all don’t need to eat our meals like we are at a 5-star restaurant. But it would be nice to start seeing people chew with their mouths closed again. How about putting your napkin on your lap? You might even save yourself from a few spills along the way!

Another lost manner that I have noticed is waiting to eat until everyone at that table has their food. It has always been good manners to wait until everyone is served their food before you begin eating. I know it looks good, but it will still be just as good in a few minutes! Patience! Lol!

Please & Thank-You

This can go towards so many things! If you are lucky enough to have someone hold open a door for you, do you say, thank you? Or do you just walk through not even looking at the person, like it was their duty to hold open the door for you?

It also seems like the word please has been lost from the English language. Isn’t it nice to hear someone say, “Can you please repeat that” or “Can you please pass the __”? It seems like we hear a lot of “huh” and “gimme” instead.

No One Wants to See Your PJ’s

This topic used to be a joke exclusively for Walmart. Until the past few years! The joke used to be that you could wear your pajamas to Walmart. Well apparently, a lot of people got used to doing this and now wear them everywhere! We have been in restaurants where people are wearing them. It really isn’t that difficult to change out of them and put on a pair of sweatpants or shorts. Trust me no one wants to see you in your pajamas!

I know the pajama wearers are thinking that they aren’t hurting anyone, and they aren’t. But it has been proven that our outward appearance can have a direct impact on the way we feel about ourselves. Getting up for the day, showering, and getting dressed, will make you feel so much better about your day. I did a blog post a while ago; The Secret Behind My Personal Motto: Shine from the Inside Out. You can check that out here. It touches on dressing for the day and positive in, positive out.

Put the Phone Down

Have you ever been walking behind someone in the store that is texting on their phone? They are totally oblivious to the outside world. They slow their walk because they need to concentrate on what they are typing. This happened to me in the store the other day. There was a group of us walking behind a lady who was looking at her phone in a store because she was unaware of her surroundings.

In all seriousness, it is also important to be aware of your surroundings. There are people out there just waiting to take advantage of situations like this, especially in parking lots.

Turn Down the Volume

There are two parts to this one! The first one is, that no one wants to hear your telephone call! If it is that important that you make a telephone call in a restaurant or a store, please don’t put it on speaker phone. It makes everyone around you uncomfortable. It also makes people uncomfortable when you are having a loud conversation on your phone in public even when it’s not on a speaker.

My husband and I saw the most refreshing thing in a restaurant the other week. Grandparents had their granddaughter out for dinner and had a doodle board for her. It wasn’t a phone with videos or electronics. They also could interact with her. There are more kids than not with either a phone or tablet in restaurants watching videos or playing games. This is fine but not when everyone around them must listen to it also. When the volume is so loud that we all must listen to the movie or game along with them. Either mute it or earphones, please.

Have you noticed a slip in manners as you are out and about? Do you have any that you want to add to the list? If you do, please comment below.

I think we are all guilty of some of these at some point. We get caught up in ourselves and aren’t aware of those around us. Go hold open a door for a stranger, smile, and throw in a hi! Have a great day!