Polite Company

I was watching a video that had been posted on facebook. It was apparently recorded originally on film and then digitized. A wonderful thing. A comment was made about the way the people were dressed in this video. It was a barbecue, but the people were all dressed very nicely. The ladies in their dresses and men in slacks and button down shirts. My immediate response to this comment was, " that was back when we shared polite company."
I can remember my mother using that expression to instruct us children. You don't do that in polite company dear. One does not say things like that in polite company. After a while you came to understand that certain patterns of speech and behaviours were unacceptable in the general public. They may be tolerated or accepted at home but not in the general public.

One had to be accepted into anothers confidence before those actions were accepted. Only friends and family were exposed to the real you. It truly was a different time. I think an awful lot of that is lost in today's world. Now it is more of a, take me as I am, kinda world. No pretense, or being on your best behaviour. And that,on the surface would seem to be a good thing. Looking back though, I'm not so sure. Watching that little film clip took me back.

Back in time to a place were people cared for one another. Back to a time when people behaved cordially. Back to a time were one enjoyed " polite company."

You knew what was expected of you and what to expect of others. Yes,occasionally someone would act out. Yes,occasionally an altercation may happen. But,in general I think we were more civilized toward one another.

I guess back in the day we were a bit more subtle about things. Now it is shock and awe ! 

The past usually does seem better than today. We tend to forget about the bad days and recall mostly the good. That is the way most of us think. Nostalgia is always a good thing. In this case I think a return to " polite company " would do us no harm and may just improve things a bit.