JADG - Gallant Men

Gone are the days of curtseys and bows. The only time I've done a curtsey or received a bow is in square dancing or contra dancing. My parents were first generation Americans, their parents having immigrated to the US during the big influx through Ellis Island, so many people of my grandparents' generation were Europeans with formal manners. "Gentlemen of the old school" was the saying, before some rap artists ganked the term, and applied it haphazardly. Mom spoke of elderly men who would stand up and bow when she came into the room, and a few who would actually kiss her hand, much to her embarrassment. I still think poorly of men who do not remove their hats indoors, although I don't expect them to tip their hats outdoors. Courteous manners bowl me over. It's one thing I noticed when living in the South, that men still had a touch more of the traditional manners, and treated women with more (sad to say) old-fashioned courtesy than in the North. Having lived through those decades where women got all up in men's faces about opening doors and such, I feel sorry for women who don't appreciate what we used to call "common courtesy".