Putting on my Old Man hat for a moment….
Taking two-thirds of Kiddos around for Trick-or-Treating last night and gee… have manners totally died?
Granted, it wasn’t across the board, but I did see lots of people just barging around, not waiting their turn, not saying “thank you”, being greedy rude little fucks.
And that was just the adults.
*sigh*
I know Halloween etiquette isn’t written down anywhere, but it seems to be understood that porch light on means “someone’s here, candy available, come knock”. Porch light off means “no candy, don’t knock, keep moving”. That you wait your turn, letting the group already at the door finish up and allowing them to exit (since many doorways are narrow) before you go in for your turn. That you don’t ask for the candy, or for another piece; you get what you are given and you say “thank you” (even if it’s a pencil, a box of raisins, or a penny). That you don’t half-ass it: that you make some sort of effort with the costume, with the evening, and not just wandering around trolling for free candy.
But all these unwritten rules of Halloween seem like they might be dying and being lost.
Or… I’m just getting old, and more crotchety than I was yesterday. 🙂
Oh… and don’t trample on my lawn and through my garden! Use the walkway!
Stuff From Hsoi 
Yes, manners have died. Ok, not really, but as far as a fairly signifigant portion of the population are concerned yes.
We don’t get trick or treaters here, ok, I don’t turn on the porch light, but I didn’t see any walking by either, probly due to the fact that you’d have to walk a fairly long distance to hit any decent number of houses. But after Apollo scared the living daylights out of some kids selling candy last spring we decided it wasn’t worth trying either…
I see manner dying in general. I am of mixed emotion on it. Some “manners” I think are worth letting go because they don’t hold practical purpose or serve an end other than letting you be better than someone (e.g. rules of dining). There’s something to be said for knowing good etiquette, and then discarding it. 🙂
But things like saying “thank you”… it’s a shame that’s dying.
Not in all cases, we had 10 young visitors. All in costume, all said “trick or treat” and ‘thank you”.
Over all though, I do agree with you; manners are dying out. Not the kids fault but the parents that rejected quaint and out dated social conventions and then didn’t teach their kids. I find the irony of parents who fail to use manners but complain about their kids not being courteous to them delicious. Of course, I’m just a cranky old man.
I agree with you — it falls on the parents. Because, as I alluded to in my posting, the parents are pretty rude and ill-mannered. And so, no surprise the kids get it too.
But I think in the end yes… it’s just that we’re cranky old men. 😉
See? We’re just cranky old people. 🙂
Classic, simply classic.