Manners...How Many of Us Have Them. (Sung to the tune of 'Friends', by Whodini)

'...ones we can depend on,'

It started a LONG time ago...when I parents instilled in us..'say thank you', 'please'. It's suppose to stay with you all thru your life too...but somewhere along the way, some people have lost their manners. But as a young adult, 18-25...let's just say I don't blame it on the parents, I blame it on the person. But then again, you CAN blame it on the parents.

I always will and continue to say, your kids are a reflection of you. Though you may have some decent parents and their kids are lost... Doesn't take away from the parent(s) though. Maybe they, the parents have just given up...maybe the parents want to teach their children a lesson and let them learn the hard way. But some of these young adults have a sense of entitlement about themselves...thinking that they have it like that...thinking that they can do and say and act any old kind of way they want to. I cringe now...thinking, did I act that way as a young adult, NO!!

To the single parent, the mother...bringing up children in a household where she is the only breadwinner and handling the chores of being the father also..I know is hard. But your actions while raising your children should also be a reflection on how you want your children to end up being in the long run. It's hard on the single mother doing this, I see it...their actions dealing with men in general. The attitude of thinking that they are self-entitled to have things their way and nothing else. Their actions of 'what can you bring to the table', 'I can do bad by myself.' Yep, those words are so cliche.

I watched from a distance how one young lady, watched her as she raised her two little girls. The pictures mostly..and I can see their mother's attitude in every picture that was taken. I can see the mother in those pictures. The little girls didn't pose as little girl, posing as how they seen their mother pose in pictures, copying her. I can only imagine the conversations these little girls have when they are playing with other children in the neighborhood. ...and then it happened. They got into a fight with other children while playing. She came out of the house screaming, ranting and raving at the children who were fighting with hers. How I know this, she told me so, said she was watching from the window. All that screaming at some one else's child only bought out the child's parent, the mother and then 2 female adults are raising hell...which certainly brought the police along. So, the children are standing around watching the mothers going at it...which in my opinion only shows the children that this is the way you handle things. When I was a child and I got into a fight while playing, my mother would beat my ass in front of the other child. And that other child got the same thing from his mother. As a child, we did not want to be seen getting a 'whopping' in front of our friends. Happen a couple of times and we KNEW NOT to fight each other ever again. But that was in the 60's, 1960...and today, it's a whole other situation.

My parents taught me to 'defend' myself when I was a child and not to let anyone beat up on me. It wasn't about winning, it was about defending yourself. That was with hands, but today, it has progress to guns. 10, 11 and 12 years old today harbor that anger of confrontation and carry it on into their teen and adult years, some of them do, most don't. Those that do, you hear about them getting into more and more trouble. Those that do...as a young adult when you get together as older adults and say..'what ever happened to...', some one will always say that 'oh, he got shot, or so and so is in prison for...'. Then there is a silence... That silence is reflecting back to your childhood and all the things that you did get into. Situations that could have been dangerous. But because of your up bringing, what your parents taught you... You are the one and part of the ones who are walking around making a name and doing the right things in life.

It's sad that parents of today, not all, but some... Don't instill goodness in their children. Some just give up and let their children do as they please...all the way into adulthood. It's the ones that you sometime hear if their child makes the 6pm news...'He WAS a good person and never hurt no one.' But you KNOW the real truth. Because you witnessed it as a a little child way back then.

It all starts with MANNERS!!