!!
It'svery interesting that this thread turns up and simultaneously there is a discussion on modern manners on LBC Radio. Some of the questions from the phone-in chat were:
1. Why do so many people put credit cards, railway tickets, passports, boarding cards or documents that they expect someone else to handle in their mouths and think it acceptable behaviour?
2. Why do people think eating or drinking "on the hoof" is acceptable? Not so many years ago, people used to find a park bench or a quiet corner to sit and eat - you wouldn't dream of grabbing a sandwich while striding along the street and eating something smelly like Fish and Chips on public transport was totally taboo!
(Drinking or carrying hot drinks while walking is dangerous - a girl was badly scalded in the jetty at T5 a few weeks ago which is why we will no longer allow hot drinks past the gate.)
Leading on from that, will the card holder in the Galleries South Lounge yesterday avvy who sprayed me and my uniform with bits of wet, soggy apple as he tried to ask me a question while masticating please make contact if you think you should cover the cost of dry cleaning my jacket! Thank You!
3. Why do people continue to walk in the centre of the pavement /walkway when they are conducting a mobile phone conversation. It is normal for someone's walkiing pace to slow by half when they are on the phone, so pulling over to let normal people pass is just common courtesy.
4. My second biggest hate is those who let a door swing back in someone's face. I always look behind and hold the door - it was how I met my wife, she was taken in with the old-fashioned gentlemanly courtesies!
5. By far my biggest hate are thse who drop litter or throw it out of a car or train window. I can sort of understand tucking something in a corner at the airport or at a station because there are few bins for security reasons. I do, however, find it tremendously sad when walking on Dartmoor or the Sussex Downs to find Tesco bags full of sandwich wrappers, old MacDonalds or Costa coffee cups or Coke tins defiling our glorious countryside.
For all the clap-trap about "Human Rights" and "Respect" and "Dignity", it is becoming a rude, aggressive and selfish world where people are losing any consideration for other people.
How can the trend be reversed?