Oh I'm not saying that I always agreed w/the old word ways. LOL I was simply pointing out the differences between then and now. Believe me, the curtsy, etc. got to be tedious.

I agree w/you to a point but this isn't exactly what I meant when I referred to children. Toddlers are always testing their boundaries and they certainly can't be expected to behave as adults. I was referring more to school age children who, by the time they're old enough to sit still in a classroom, should have learned that there is a certain decorum that's expected of them.

This is an example of the point that I was trying to make and, apparently, have failed at it. I was raised to discuss w/out name calling because it's abusive. Words can harm and words can heal. I don't agree that adults are AHs and it isn't the adults that I was talking about. It's the standards with which we were brought up as opposed to how children are brought up today that I was hoping to discuss. We need only to watch the news or read the paper to see that there are some bad people out there but, again, this isn't what I was talking about.

Again, I agree w/you regarding bowing, etc. I wouldn't have wanted my son to bow to anyone either. However, I did teach him to call people by Mr./Mrs./Miss because familiarity breeds contempt, IMO. My neighbor's son still calls me Mrs. L and when I told him he may call me Mary his mother said "No, he may not. It's disrespectful." (Her words, not mine.)