what is manners all about?

2) Central argument
Linton Weeks argued in his article that respect and manners are important but the way to show these things change over time. I completely agree with this statement because; words which were used before are not used today, I personally also feel this way but I also think words such as thank you and please should not be outdated but be used on a more daily basis.
In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries words such as sir and madam were considered normal. One would say these words to each other on a daily basis. But if someone was to say these words to me at present day I would be in a state of shock and most probably make fun of them. Instead of feeling gratitude towards the person who showed me respect I just laugh and walk off. But in the 18th and 19th century people would most probably return the courtesy. If someone came along and said “good job” I would feel really good and appreciated and hopefully return the courtesy to the person who says it to me. This is a simple way to see that times have changed we just need to accept people evolve and cultures change with time. But words which were used 50 years ago such as please and thank you should still be used.
Since I was a kid my parents always told me to use the words such as “please” and “thank you”. Even though I don’t use them all the time I still consider these words to be important and one should show their manners by using these words. It’s a simple way to show gratitude towards other people. Culture does change but we should hold on to a bit of the past, because the past is what makes the present. Especially when in it comes to the question of etiquette these things are very important. Even though our school does not teach these things I consider it important.
If people stop showing respect and etiquette then civilization will crumble. Just like in Woodstock School there is no respect system for the Seniors. This comes to a shock to many new students as in Indian schools it’s drilled into you that respect is very important. This school considers everything to be bullying and in my ten years in Woodstock no one has actually taken time to teach manners. The problem is not “that this generation has forgotten manners” the problem is we never learnt them.