Damnation Nation: "We have lost our damn manners!"

 August 28, 2024

   I was comparing notes with Buckeye Blake the other day and he said a line I think captures the current moment: "We are a nation that has lost its damn manners."

   Good point, sir, I said respectively.

   My daughter was regaling me with work stories and her encounters with Gen Zers who couch their rude behavior behind the facade of "Hey, I'm telling my truth." When did that replace manners?

   This reminded me of one of my pet peeves: how rude people can be about hat ettiquette.

Daily Whip Out: "Don't touch my hat!"

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              Which, in turn, reminds me of the best line in one of my favorite Westerns, written by Larry McMurtry, of course.                                                                                                                                                                                                       

"I hate rude behavior in a man. I won't tolerate it."

—Woodrow Call (Tommy Lee Jones) Lonesome Dove