Student Opinion | Do You Have Good Manners? NYTimes.com

The other week, my husband and I were in the Burger King drive-thru. The man working the first window took my husband’s credit card and handed it back without saying a word. And then, when my husband thanked him, the guy said, “You’re welcome.”

Hmm…I think something’s gone awry…

This New York Times student opinion question is about good manners:

Students: Tell us how you’d define “good manners.” Is it knowing proper etiquette when you’re in a restaurant? Saying “please” and “thank you”? Being kind and thoughtful of others? Do you think having good manners is important? How would you rate your own manners? Do you think our society in general is becoming less civil and more rude? Why or why not?

LINK: Student Opinion | Do You Have Good Manners? NYTimes.com

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11 Responses to Student Opinion | Do You Have Good Manners? NYTimes.com

    • Jo Hawke says:

      I agree that people don’t care about manners as much nowadays. Why do you think that is?

      Be sure to copy and paste the URL from your comment’s “LINK.” You’re getting the link to the article, but not to your specific comment, Morgan.

    • Jo Hawke says:

      I’m glad to see that you feel having manners and being nice will earn you respect. It seems that so many young people today think they have to act mean and cold to get respect. Maybe they’re confusing fear with respect. Would you agree?

    • Jo Hawke says:

      You make some really good points, Mindy. 

      Manners are definitely learned, rather than ingrained. Don’t you think, though, that some people are just naturally more easy-going and kind-hearted than others? This is not to say that experiences don’t affect us, but it seems to me that we all start at different points on the nice-mean continuum. And things like stress can alter it, too. (Take me, for instance. ;)) 

      I’ve never heard anyone use the phrase, “say manners.” Is that something you’ve heard before, or did you come up with it?

  1. Jo Hawke says:

    I found your comment, but again, it’s not linked correctly. Here it is: 
    http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/02/do-you-have-good-manners/comment-page-3/?apage=6#comment-366755

    I like this part of your post best: “No one in this world is gonna respect you if you don’t even respect yourself enough to act appropriately in public.”

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