Now, last month, there was quite a fuss kicked up over an e-mail gone viral in this country. A mother-in-law to be wrote a scathing e-mail to her prospective daughter-in-law outlining exactly why she was uncouth and not fit to marry her son. Public sympathy, rather obviously fell on the side of the young fiance with little to no persuasion. (Full story here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2011/jun/30/mother-in-law-email-viral )
Truthfully, I pity Carolyn (the mother-in-law). I know that I'm not meant to, I'm supposed to pity this poor, psuedo-working class contemporary of mine, but you know what? It's tough to sympathise with someone who gives bad manners a glam status. The bride-to-be champions 'contemporary culture' with its laid-back attitude to courtesy and might I add, chivalry. Next time you get cut off for the vacant tube seat by a pushy bloke or have someone sod casting* your brains out via iPod on the bus - spare a thought for the fickle finger of bad press being thrown at poor Carolyn Bourne. She raised her son to behave better than that and from the likes of it - her daughter-in-law simply won't bother intoning any common courtesy into the grandkids.
Now, let's think again. Who should we be championing?
I will say one thing however. A clever lady knows to never put anything into writing that you wouldn't want held against you in a court of law (because best friend tribunal is equally serious and the punishments last far far longer) but most people know better than to write something scathing in electronic form. It spreads far too easily. As a manners maven I'll give Carolyn an 'E for Effort', she probably thought the shame of receiving such a condemnation would keep it from coming to light. Carolyn, as we Nebraskan girls know, pigs love rolling in slop and they don't mind who else gets splattered. Moral of the story - don't go near pigs and never e-mail anything you wouldn't want picked up by the national media.
*Sod casting: Using the volume on an mp3 player, such as an iPhone, iPod or iPad to blast one listeners musical choices into the surrounding 4 foot bubble. Musical choice can range from extremely anti-social, i.e. threatening gansta rap, to really uncomfortable, i.e. camp-y showtunes. The outcome is always the same - unpleasant.
