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Wow.  Who knew I was just hitting the tip of the iceberg with this subject matter.  Essentially my blogging efforts are to bring an awareness of lack of character education in our society today.  It was one of the reasons I wrote my children's book, Barf's First Flight - Lessons in Helping Others.  A story of friendship and kindness between an airplane sick bag and tissue.  The book  is to be used as a tool to teach young children a willingness to serve others,and to serve with manners.  Apparently though, I am not the only person fed up with the lack of character so many people seem to demonstrate. Keep in mind these same parents who exhibit blatant rudeness are also teaching their children life lessons in manners and consideration for others.

Last week, Oprah hosted a show entirely on this subject matter:  Choosing Civility.  The book so aptly titled is written by Dr. P.M. Forni, a professor at Johns Hopkins University.  Dr Forni co-founded the  Johns Hopkins Civility Project (JHCP) in 1997.  Their mission:  to assess the significance of civility, manners and politeness in contemporary society.  Needless to say, we have a lot of work to do America.  Dr. Forni states that "the quality of our lives is a reflection of the quality of our relationships".  If truth be told, most, if not all of us struggle with maintaining healthy relationships no matter how hard we try.  The fact is, social skills, such as good manners, and kindness to strangers strengthens social bonds.  If we are not practicing these skills on a daily basis how can we possibly have healthy relationships?  Rude behavior among children and adults effects the quality of our lives.  It causes stress and anxiety which ultimately creates a negative aura that can permeate our lives, and our children.

This topic goes beyond "please and thank you", or good table manners.  It is about how we treat our friends, loved ones and strangers.  So next time you are tempted to pretend you did not see the other car heading for the same parking spot.  Please, by all means...choose civility.