This past week, we celebrated our our 21st anniversary. My hubby planned a romantic, overnight getaway to Niagara Falls for dinner, a show, some gambling and, the piece de resistance....a Saskatchewan Roughrider/Hamilton Tiger Cats game on the way home today. I suspect that the game came before the romantic part, but it's the thought that counts, right?
When we arrived at the hotel, we had a couple of hours before dinner, so I gave in to my cold and slept. We changed out of our travel clothes and into something more appropriate for The Watermark Restaurant atop the Hilton and headed up for dinner.
OK, so this is Niagara Falls. Maybe not known for it's classy establishments. But if you can afford to pay $50 for a plate of prime rib, you can certainly afford to wear something better than a sweatsuit to eat it in. We weren't dressed to the nines, but this isn't Arby's or McDonald's. Coincidentally, I wouldn't wear a sweatsuit anywhere but in my house.
We watched as a couple entered the restaurant, he in shorts (hello??? it's almost November!!!), she in an old sweatsuit. An older gentleman sitting behind us with his wife and and another couple was dressed in a suit, but he kept his cowboy hat on. Take the damn hat off when you are in a building!
I recently saw some photos on Facebook of guests at a wedding. I didn't know it was a wedding, until I saw a picture of a bride and groom. I thought the photos were of some people at a pub. Young men in jeans and t-shirts, with baseball caps on backwards. Their ladies were dressed in appropriate attire, so it obviously wasn't a surprise that they were going. I just don't get it.
I was always taught that you dressed appropriately for the occasion. So was my husband. He would never dream of showing up at a funeral parlor in anything but a suit. Same thing for a wedding. No jeans to church. Does God care what you wear? Probably not. It is just a sign of respect. And that my friends, is the kicker.
Respect for one another doesn't exist anymore. At concerts. In restaurants. In church. On the road. I fear we are fast becoming a generation of egotistical, belligerent, entitled misfits.
Do we not teach our children what is right and wrong anymore? Do we live our lives thinking that we are entitled to offend the people around us by our actions? This isn't just about what we wear, it's about how we live our lives.
We were so impressed when we first met our daughter's boyfriend. He came in the door and the first thing he did was to remove his cap, shake my husband's hand and say "Hello Sir". Two small gestures and two words. We immediately knew that this young man was raised with manners and a sense of decorum. When it came time for him to join our daughter at a formal occasion, he couldn't afford to buy a suit, but he had a pair of dress pants and he bought a dark shirt and tie to make it as formal as he could. The point is that he TRIED.
Many of you out there (if anyone reads this) will think that I am a stick-in-the-mud. "Oh come on, it doesn't matter what people wear". Yes it does. It doesn't take money to take off your hat indoors. Or to say excuse me. Or to leave the sweatsuit at home if you can afford a meal that will cost you over $100 for two.
Frankly, I'm tired of rude people who haven't learned right from wrong. How about using some common sense and having respect for others?
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