Civilization and Manners

I've been reading the online forum for my town lately. I think I've mentioned it before. It's a lot like watching a car wreck. You can't look away, but it's gruesome and horrible.

I've been reading it with some frequency since sometime in December. At that time, there was a topic being posted on that was related to my boys, and it was infuriating to read it. I was TEMPTED to post on it, but I refrained. Other people posted with opinions similar to mine, and they were bashed by other people on the forum. Outright lies were being posted as gospel truth -- and I knew enough of the situation to know which were lies. However, I decided it was a waste of time to argue, and I didn't get involved in the fray. Eventually, the furor died down, when the bulletin board string was archived. No one posted on that topic after that.

I keep reading the forum anyway, and I've found that there is a LOT of mudslinging and name calling and nastiness on the board. And I've gotta wonder -- why can't we all just get along?

My momma (and probably your momma) always said, "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all." Doesn't anyone teach that anymore? And I get the feeling that the people on this board are adults, not children. Shouldn't they know better?

And it doesn't seem like that board is the only place where manners are completely lacking. It seems like people don't want to be nice to each other anymore, and they don't seem to think there is any REASON to be nice to each other. Especially if -- for any reason -- they believe that the other person is DIFFERENT from them, has a different point of view, or a different way of life.

I'm going to try to be nicer to people this year. I don't want our civilization to crumble. I'm afraid that without good manners, (and I'm not talking about forks, obviously,) our lives would be way worse. Civilization is good for us. I like it.

I didn't post on that forum before, because I was too close to the topic, I felt that it could hurt my feelings too easily. But I might start posting now, just to be the person who says, "Be nice, now, children! If you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything at all!"