“Mind your manners”

Perhaps you remember a favorite grandmother intoning those words as you plucked up a strand of spaghetti with you fingers. We obeyed, even as very young children, grasping the fact that a crucial part of our education was underway. Minding (and learning) our manners at home meant many things. It meant that we could go to other people’s homes, or to church, or to school, and behave in a way that pleased those around us. It meant saying you were sorry after a juvenile lapse of conduct and doing it in such a way that not only erased the incident, but left you standing a little higher in the esteem of the lady whose (delicious) raspberries you had stolen.

LDN