The One Prediction That Never

The Most Conventional Statements Are Both True And Welcome.

Yes, Etiquette Is Hypocritical. Yes, It Does Inhibit Children - If You're Lucky. But The Idea That It's Elitist And Irrelevant Is Like Saying Language Is Elitist And Irrelevant.

Everybody's An Art Critic.

Whamming Someone Smaller Than Oneself In Order To Teach That Person Civilized Behavior Is Not Within Miss Manners' Concept Of Propriety, Much Less Logic.

One Reason That The Task Of Inventing Manners Is So Difficult Is That Etiquette Is Folk Custom, And People Have Emotional Ties To The Forms Of Their Youth. That Is Why There Is Such Hostility Between Generations In Times Of Rapid Change; Their Manners Being Different, Each Feels Affronted By The Other, Taking Even The Most Surface Choices For Challenges.