Respect

I am not sure that this will go down too well but hey I have always been a bit controversial and maybe it will hit a chord with a few and you never know we could start another revolution but this time for the good


With respect


Things we use to do
Today I was in church when I noticed two men with hats on . After the service when I challenged them and said that it was disrespectful to do so, they said that they didn’t know it was disrespectful and anyway why were women allowed to wear a hat and men not (that then started another debate) However It started me thinking of the many things that were once natural and respectful which now you very rarely see or experience.
When a funeral came down the street men would doff their cap, give the sign of the cross, bow their head or at the least stand still until it had passed .
Even now in today’s mad world I can not bring myself to overtake a hearse . Unlike others I see that cut up the whole procession so so rude and unnecessary.

Now I am far from being a whimp and have been called a chauvinist, but I think that doing the gentlemanly thing is being able to do something rather special and it cost nothing, as does, Opening a door for a lady, Standing up when a lady comes into a room, when a lady arrives or leaves the dinning table, Walking on the out side of a lady, as the great philosopher said Manners cost Nowt. Neither does switching off the TV, Radio, Wee or play station when a visitor calls, or whilst eating. Using the words Excuse Me., Thank You and Please would go a long way to combating the lack of respect .
Wearing a hat in church, in the house or whilst eating are all disrespectful to the people you are eating with.
Chewing gum may be a way of cleaning your teeth while you are having a busy day , but it when talking to me please please take it out, but do not drop it on the floor or stick it under the table (Dirty little Sods)
Allowing children to play in a restaurant , I pay good money to eat out and I do not want children running under my table playing hide and seek, the parents are mostly oblivious to the chaos the kids are causing. I not saying that they should not take the kids Out, what I want is for them to respect my space and teach the children manners, there are places available for children to dine in chaos. Which I do not frequent .

I find that the disrespect for other is the underlying route of most of our problems, my Dad always said that you have to respect yourself before others can respect you. And certainly in the army I had to really earn that respect the hard way. I am not going to condemn the youth of today because they do not know any better , and some of the older age group are no better the man with the hat in church was my age and I see some very ignorant Oldies not respecting the younger ones. Maybe. I should condemn my age group and the disastrous sixties where we threw convention out of the window. And started the free society were anything went. Hopefully though I do still retain a modicum of civility and respect to others.
What is the answer ; I have no idea, but maybe we still have a chance by bringing back respect to our society, We have children and grand children and there is the starting point.
And when you see someone in church with a hat on or talking to you whilst chewing gum Tell them its not acceptable and why. Whilst trying to talk to my grandson the other day I insisted he turned the TV off whilst we had a conversation, a small step I know but lets start


Big Al