Or apply that to the increasingly crowded and hectic world we live in today.

You’re not too old, UNITEDBILL. But times have indeed changed from back when you were twenty-five years old. Without a doubt standards for public behavior and dress have relaxed considerably over the past forty years. In some ways, I like the more relaxed standards, in others I don’t. Growing up in the 1960s, most people always dressed nicely if they were traveling somewhere. It didn’t seem strange then or a big bother because that’s just the way things were done. Period.

One might examine the larger picture of why people ever felt it was important to dress “appropriately” when out in public, be that on a plane, going to a restaurant, museum, whatever…

I'm just speculating here but I remember hearing the term “Polite Society” years ago. “Polite Society” seemed to be predominantly populated by the wealthy, well bred and well educated, and though it was by no means limited to those folks, a couple of hundred years ago they seemed to make up the bulk of its adherents. On the whole, it seems that social mores affecting all of us generally evolved from the standards set by “Polite Society” of old.

It always seemed to me that the idea of dressing nicely while out in public was something that originated in “Polite Society” because it was deemed "civilized" to be on your best behavior and appearance when strolling out into the world. Dressing shabbily was the province of riff raff and ragamuffins and certainly no self respecting member of “Polite Society” would ever deign to be seen out and about in anything less then respectable threads. Back then, as with today, people judged you by the choices you make and choosing to dress shabbily in public said heaps about your approach to life in general. Amongst more than a few today, it still does.

In “Polite Society” at least, I imagine there were repercussions to poor dress and behavior as well. For example, you might no longer be invited to formal dinners or debutante balls. The loss of “Networking” possibilities amongst the “Good Old Boy” network commonly in attendance at such functions could impact your upward mobility considerably. You'd have to hang out at the Public Bar ("Pub") with the roughnecks and drink beer instead of fine champagne and liqueurs. (Gasp! For shame!)

Of course back then, in some quarters such as nicer restaurants, hotels or businesses, if you weren’t dressed appropriately they wouldn’t even let you in the door. It was a dress code designed to keep out the "riff raff" with their generally lower standards of dress and behavior.

Moving on to the world of inter-city public transportation, there once was a time that only the very well to do could afford to travel longer distances. This was especially true when it came to airplanes. And of course back then, travelling great distances was still looked at as an event, not just another plane flight as with today. Perhaps because traveling was seen as something special, people dressed accordingly. At least back then. You'd hardly call domestic flight in America "special" anymore.

To address some of the exceedingly relaxed dress standards now seen in public forums such as airplanes, or boorish behavior such as inflicting cell phone conversations on everyone within earshot would involve discussing the hows and whys of our society’s diminishing lack of respect for one another. That might be best discussed in another forum.

Personally, I’m glad some things changed from forty years ago. For example, I don’t think it’s necessary to wear a suit when you fly. If anything, it’s impractical to wear expensive, formal clothing while sitting for long hours in a cramped seat. However, one can dress comfortably without resorting to dirty or torn or insufficient clothing. In general though, I’m not too bothered over what I see being worn on airplanes. I’m a jeans and button down shirt man myself, usually with a nice tweed sports jacket, so who knows – I may offend some people. Want long hair and a beard? Go for it. People holding hands and kissing in public doesn’t bother me, either. Tattoos and piercings? Hey, it’s your body…

On the other hand, people full out lip locking in a nice restaurant or on an airplane is not in good form. Taking off your shoes, and/or socks, and putting your potentially smelly feet up on the bulkhead is thoughtless towards your fellow passengers. Loudly inflicting your cell phone conversations on your surrounding brethren is boorish and rude. Going into a very nice restaurant dressed in old jeans and a t-shirt when the established (and desired) tradition of the restaurant and the diners clearly requests formal attire is disrespectful to both the restaurant and its diners. The list goes on. I see alot of this type of behavior these days and unfortunately, it seems to be considered increasingly acceptable.

What about that noisy ice breaking coming from back in the galley? Back in the Sixties, if ice needed to be broken, it was first placed in a couple of towels and then broken. This minimized noise. Believe me, I’ve seen it done onboard many times. At the time, this was deemed the proper, less intrusive way to do it and flight attendants were trained accordingly. Why? It was respectful to the passengers not to intrude upon them with all that sharp noise. Some might even say it was more civilized. For sure it was more polite. Today, all that noise is just considered par for the course. Standards have indeed been lowered.

Still, it’s not an airline problem, it’s a societal problem. I really do feel that in today’s society, some of the standards that were deemed important to a civilized existence forty years ago have indeed eroded. We are not as polite as we once were. That politeness is borne of respect for our fellow human beings and there’s a lot less of that than there once was.

George Bush Sr. (who I didn’t vote for) spoke of a kinder, gentler nation but today we applaud gangsta rappers for their “artistic” lyrics and admire some athletes and movie stars despite their increasingly rude behavior on and off the court or stage. What was once considered poor sportsmanship and lack of respect for the opponent is now considered an appropriate show of exultation for having essentially done what the job paid you to do. Increasingly, it’s more about the individual than the team.

Society is a team, too. We can either behave respectfully amongst eachother or descend into an increasingly nasty state of affairs. Although I think we’re still a long way from that, we’re definitely exploring the road that leads in that direction.

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Sorry for the length of this response. I don't know what came over me. Could be this delicious James Squire Pilsner that I've been quaffing all afternoon?!