What is it with the lack of manners these days?

“Whatever happened to fair dealing?
And pure ethics
And nice manners?
Why is it everyone now is a pain in the ass?
Whatever happened to class?” “Class”- Chicago

Do you ever wonder why people behave like they do now? I have started thinking about this a lot recently. It seems like people are getting more comfortable leaving messes in their wake and less used to cleaning up after themselves. For example, every time I go down to lock our apartment building Community Room at night I end up having to push in a number of chairs that have been left out. I also often have to throw trash in the wastebasket or put papers in the recycling. The last few days, someone has been watching TV and then just walking away and leaving it on for someone else to turn off. There are also often empty pop or water bottles or food wrappers left on tables.

It gets frustrating. It also makes me wonder if no one is being taught to pick up after themselves anymore. I know I was raised to clean up my messes and put things away when I was done with them. (I didn’t always do this when I was little but I did learn and eventually got in the habit.) I also was taught to conserve water and electricity and to do my part. It seems like at least now, that is kind of unusual.

Just walking off and leaving things seems disrespectful to me. It’s disrespectful of the space and it’s disrespectful of the person/persons who will end up tasked with cleaning up the mess. (I’m obviously talking about people who are able to clean up after themselves but choose not to. People who aren’t able to do things are a totally different story.) It’s like people think they don’t have to take responsibility, that someone will come behind them like a maid and tidy up. Unfortunately there are no fairies or house elves who will magically put things back to rights.

As a fan of the style and lifestyle of past decades I can’t help but ponder whether people really were more well mannered back then. Also, are people are growing more sloppy and caring about others less in the present time? It certainly seems that way sometimes. Maybe it is just me wearing rose colored glasses. (I fully admit that not everything was good in the 50s and 60s, especially for women and minorities. I am thinking more about manners and societal standards as a whole.) Regardless, I wish we could return to a more civil time where people took responsibility for what they did and the mess they left around. I do realize this is pretty minor in the whole scheme of things. That doesn’t mean it isn’t tiresome and annoying though.