Have manners gone out the window?

I can't imagine not saying or sending thank you. My baby shower was in March and I sent thank you cards via mail even to those that didn't participate (virtual shower) but still sent a gift.

Yes they have been thrown out with last week’s trash and become the norm unfortunately.. Especially since Covid. Before the plague hit, many people used the excuse that “it’s the 21st century so manners don’t matter anymore and if anyone is offended that is their problem for sticking to archaic nonsense”. Once Covid hit, people added that as another excuse to do whatever they want, everyone else be damned. They say “it’s uncertain times, so things change.”. Hardly because that is simply a cop out, end of story. Etiquette and manners were designed to help people navigate the sticky social situations that they find themselves in when dealing with other humans to avoid being rude or awkward. A pandemic does not cancel that out so that people can do whatever the hell they want. The social protocols of avoiding being awkward or disrespectful *should* and do remain in place because people are still interacting, but they need even more guidance, not less. But you can’t force someone to have good manners who absolutely refuses as an alarmingly growing number are doing every day and teaching their children the same thing.

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Yea we sent out wedding thank you cards a couple weeks after our wedding. I can understand if a couple expecting a baby cannot send out separate cards, but at least bring in one thank you card with cookies or something.

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I don't think having a baby is an excuse not to send out thank you cards. I wasn't able to drive during part of my pregnancy because I was high risk near the end, but I still managed to get thank you cards out.

I can't imagine not saying thank you after receiving a gift. That being said, I don't give a gift to be thanked for giving it. Is it nice to receive thanks and is it polite to give it? Yes, absolutely. But not receiving a thank you wouldn't stop me from giving a future gift to someone I care about.

I understand why you are upset. Yes, a lot of people around my age (20's and 30's) were not taught manners the same as previous generations. This trend started with our parents and teachers and continued with us.



I am one of the few people I know who hand-writes thank you cards. The only time I had a real etiquette lesson in school was because my 3rd grade teacher went off script and taught us (the other two classes in my grade didn't get that lesson). My parents reinforced good manners at home but my friends legitimately don't realize when they are being rude since they never learned what they were supposed to do/not do in the first place.

Also, some people are just rude even if they DO know their manners. No reason why besides they stopped caring about others. Those people irk me a lot.

View Quoted Comment 5 kids here, and even with the twins there was no question that all of the thank you notes go out, individually not in groups. It is what you make a priority, what you make time for.

Nope, you're not crazy. I rarely get thank you's (for wedding or baby or anything) anymore. It's ridiculous and im in my early 30s. Thank you cards are not difficult or time consuming to write and should be done ASAP. It's very sad that they're not anymore.

View Quoted Comment This. I’m also in my early 30s and am shocked by how many friends don’t send thank you cards. I was taught to always send them, big or small gift, but sadly many don’t.

I am surprised, too, at how many people don't do them. I am probably older than most here (56), and I would not allow my kids to play with a present until a thank you note was written. They are now in college (one just graduated!) and he needed no prompt from me: "Mom, do you have any thank you notes I can use?" for some graduation gifts. Proud mom moment, lol!

But yes, sadly, Covid has made for some terrible behavior, sadly.