Manners

Recent events gave me my idea for tonight's posting. Manners. My knowledge of manners comes from my Momma. Probably most people got most of there manners whupped into them by their parents. I only had one parent that I recall teaching me anything worthwhile. Well that's not quite accurate. My dad briefly had his law office in the front room of our home and on a summer day he had clients and the door was open. There wasn't air-conditioning back then and screens in the doors and windows kept the breeze up. Well for whatever reason I took it upon myself to go to the door and stick my tongue out at my father. He got up and walked outside and smacked me on my well deserving butt. I can't remember why I did that but I can still remember the bitter metallic taste of the screen. I took from that experience that sticking my tongue out at my father was a big no-no. He didn't say anything to me to reinforce that this was poor manners but as I grew I took care that when I did stick my tongue out I couldn't be caught. I was a closet tongue-sticker-outer.
My momma taught me that you didn't belch out loud, you always said please and thank you, you offered your seat to anyone older than you, you sat with your legs together and you didn't touch your body parts even if they itched. Ladies don't spit, pass gas or forget to flush the toilet. If you stayed at someone's house you offered to clean the table, wash or dry the dishes, and tried not to be a pest. You didn't eat the last thing in the bowl if you had guests and all guests were given the best selections of food. You learned to write thank you notes and call everyone Ma'am or Sir. I could go on for days about this but the one thing that I want to hammer home is that it is common for people to issue a blanket invitation to friends to come eat, come visit, drop in, or call. Take it from me. They mean every word they say but it is beyond rude to take someone up on a blanket invitation without first calling. You have to give the future host an opportunity to do the dishes, comb her hair, sweep the floor and RENEGE on the invitation if the time isn't right. You never,never ever inform your host that you are coming over by having someone else call. Manners dictate you must call yourself and tell the host that you are taking them up on his or her offer especially if the host is going to be put out by more than a cup of coffee and a danish.
End of my rant.