NOSTALGIA MOMENT: I am of an age where I can remember a very different, and more pleasant, Europe.
I used to have faith in the police force; now I don’t.
I used to believe that if one needed the recourse of the legal system, that ‘right’ would always conquer ‘wrong’; this is no longer the case.
I used to live in the knowledge that my National Insurance policy would look after me ‘from the cradle to the grave’ (Although I never actually received an Insurance Policy stating as much. Did anyone?); this no longer happens.
I used to think that our well-paid immigration officers would ensure that no fanatical anti-British/French terrorists would be allowed to settle here at our expense; hordes of them have been welcomed with open arms.
I used to respect politicians; now I see most of them as no more than dim-witted fat-cat fraudsters.
I used to think that to speak correctly, to write legibly, and possess good manners, were qualities to which one should aspire; nowadays they seem to be qualities to be derided.
Eating in the street was simply not done, we gave up our seats on the tube/bus for women, we opened doors for the elderly; all these have gone, and I, for one, find it all very depressing.
I’ll have my pill now please Matron.
Please do send any extra pills my way. In need.
ReplyDeleteDear T. If I had pills for your current problem; I'd make a bloody fortune.
ReplyDeleteYou just became old, that's all Cro. (How rude!)
ReplyDeleteIntolerant too!
ReplyDeleteI can understand the disillusionment. We're taught through all our school years to stand in line, wait, share, have respect, and then the second we get out we see no one else is sharing or standing in line or any of those things. It's each man or woman for themselves. So we ask, does it matter if we are doing all the right things, when no one else is? Our knightly manners go unnoticed, or so it seems. They don't. Every time you do something good it remains in the universe as a source of positive energy. It matters. It counts.
ReplyDeleteI've given up caring what the rest of the world is doing....I just try to live the way I was brought up. By the way Cro, who spit in your tea today that brought all this on?
ReplyDeleteI used to believe in all that too - and I think life was good then.
ReplyDeleteI miss the passing of manners, for with manners comes respect and this makes a difference to who we are.
Anna :o]
What I find ironically encouraging, is that my daughters bemoan the passing of manners too! Perhaps this is no different that it has ever been.
ReplyDeleteSome people are good/kind/thoughtful others are not.
Is the saying "Might is Right" or "Right is Might"? seems to change daily.
Even though some may ridicule good manners (and those who consider them important) I shall continue to behave in the way I was taught to behave. The Politically Correct bemoaners can go jump!
ReplyDeleteI think like Jacquesline, my children are extremely respectful and have good graces also. This generation is not entirely ruined. It is less formal though...you go to a restaurant where you had to "dress" for dinner any given night and now they are all "country club casual"....ie. -jeans are acceptable. There is good and bad about that.
ReplyDeleteI so agree with the rest of your synopsis but the "dim-witted fat-cat fraudsters" made me laugh the loudest!!!