Some thoughts ..................

Last week, while shopping @ WalMart, one of the items I noticed for sale was a leatherette-covered case, about 15"H x 10"W x 8"D - for those who enjoy{ed} movies of the 30's-50's, you'll recognize a "kit" for cocktails ..................... and it got me thinking ..........................
Back when those cases were covered in leather, the actual, day-to-day "America", was a vastly different experience ....................... hard-bitten detectives called women "doll"; women, for the most part, after marriage, stayed home; kids played {gasp!} outside, and came home with bloody noses, black eyes, broken arms - and NO ONE called a lawyer!
Manners were taught, and one was expected to "behave" - with consequences if one didn't ........................ one of the most effective of consequences was humiliation - to this day, I can reduced to monosyllabic answers, if someone I'm talking with "snaps" and I can't figure the reason ....................
The point of all this - I think the turmoil of the 60's & 70's was valid, in that "we" learned that it's OK to question authority - I take issue with those whose attitude is that the more aggressive/obnoxious one's questioning is, the more 'support' from the masses will ensue, and the more "righteous" their questioning is {think (gag!) Rosie O'Donnell} ..................... there is a time & a place for everything - and in-your-facedness is necessary for law enforcement personnel, military drill instructors ..................... but not for too many of the rest of us ................... if one yearns for the times represented by that cocktail kit, one might do worse than to develop a sense of propriety/shame for behavior that does no honor to that period ...................... even back then, folks from the "wrong side of the tracks" aspired to the sophistication represented by cocktail kits ..................... I've always thought sophistication begins with good manners ........................