Old World Charm

As children, we are taught standards of etiquette from our parents. Some common social manners that are passed on from generation to generation include mothers telling daughters to cross their legs when seated, fathers informing their sons to open doors for ladies, and the of course the "never-supposed-to-be-forgotten" ladies first rule.
As society modernizes and lines of gender inequalities and imbalance blur and cease, these societal standards have taken a backseat. No longer are girls reprimanded for "playing like a boy" (it can even be argued that playing like boys is actually healthy for girls). Gone are the days when boys were scolded for sitting at the dinner table before ladies were seated. And the idea of a man laying his jacket down over a puddle so that a woman could cross is completely unfathomable. The list goes on.
Since I am a part of Generation Y, I can't exactly say that I'm disappointed in young people today and their lack of adherence to standards of society, but I do want to say that it's always a nice treat when I witness people adhering to these "old-school"standards of etiquette.
I am fortunate to have a charming grandfather as my neighbor. He is always in a cordial and happy-go-lucky mood and I love enjoy stopping and chatting with him whenever I see him on our street.  Not only is he wise, genuinely interesting, but he also exhibits oozes old world charm. After spotting him by his mailbox and catching up with him, he took off his hat, brought it down to his chest in acknowledgment and bid me a good afternoon. I was in awe of how wonderful it felt to be acknowledged so properly and so pleasantly.
Then again today, I was walking downtown and a gas and electric serviceman was getting into his pickup, saw me, warmly smiled and nodded his head.  It was more than a regular 21st century nod but more like a 1950's milkman making a friendly delivery and personally greeting the mistress of the house. It was that communicative.
I had previously thought old world charm gestures like these were endangered species, if not already extinct.  But the actions of these two gentlemen have me believing that there may still be a herd or two of these wondrous creatures left.