I spent one summer of Saturdays attending Charm School on the fifth floor of the May Company Department Store with the rest of the boys and girls from my neighborhood. Our parents said it was mandatory, no discussion. We learned table manners, how to address adults and our fellow students with respect, how to dress for different occasions, and how to treat others as we ourselves would want to be treated.
Later, as a rebellious teenager, while waiting until midnight to see the Rolling Stones at the Hollywood Bowl, I would regale my friends with hilarious stories about my long lost summer at the May Company, how my penchant for giggling while trying to walk with books on my head prevented me from “graduating”. At the time, I believed civil rights, poverty, and the war were so much more important than anything I may have learned in Charm School.
But now, in September, 2009, as a wife and working mother, in this long summer of narcissism and incivility, I wonder if Charm School should be mandatory before someone can attend the Video Music Awards, play in a tennis tournament, become a member of Congress or attend a Town Hall Meeting. I wonder about the example we are setting for the next generation when a Congressman can call the President of the United States a liar and then raise money based upon his rudeness. I wonder about people shouting at their fellow citizens in Town Hall meetings making it impossible to have a reasonable discussion about health care, a musician who upstages a fellow musician, and an athlete who believes she can speak to a referee in a demeaning manner. I wonder what has happened to our civility, manners and etiquette.
Most of all, I wonder if Charm School should be mandatory, again.
Agreed. Beautifully put!