Andrew Collins has written a great post outlining why it’s “time for a return to - or a formalisation of - good manners.” It’s a shame that his Manners Manifesto even needs to be written, but I’m glad someone is still thinking this way.

I already try and do as much as I can from his list and that comes from one of the good things my mother did for me as a child: she taught me good manners. These days she’s a lunatic schizophrenic who collects dead birds and literally expects God to provide for her, but I’m glad her middle-to-upper-class aspirations gave me those good manners.

However, I don’t agree with everything Andrew says. I never buy the Big Issue because it’s dire. I have sworn at a free-newspaper vendor on the tube who barred my way into Canary Wharf station by sticking his arm out right in front of me — immovably. And I’m not always that friendly to strangers, especially since moving to London: get too friendly and you’re likely to be knifed in the guts or receive a toe-cap to the bollocks. Be even friendlier and firearms might be involved.

Neverthless, it’s good to see a rallying call for better manners. I’m going to try and improve. Will you?

Life Monitor with RSS | Respond | Trackback | Bookmark it!