I don't think anyone was surprised to read this news:

Good manners are dying out in Britain, according to a new poll. (link via SkyNews) Out of the list of 20 dying skills (interesting that good manners are labeled a skill) identified in the article, the top five are:

 good manners, letter-writing, cooking meals from scratch, neighbourliness, and speaking correctly.

I'm appalled by the way people behave now and sadly it does seem to be the majority of people who display bad manners. Why don't people say please and thank you anymore?! And what about holding a door open for the next person? I do it all the time. I don't think it takes a lot of effort and it's quite rewarding to see the smile on a person's face when they see me holding the door. Sometimes, I even hear a "thank you" which you would think would be an automatic response but sadly isn't.

And why do people just hang up when they call and I say they have a wrong number? Don't they know they should apologize and say "I'm sorry"? Aren't people taught this basic rule of phone etiquette?! Or is it that they simply can't be bothered?

The really sad truth is that the lack of good manners is going to become the norm. So many parents don't teach their children manners or proper social skills that it's no wonder schools have problems with discipline. And of course, these kids grow up to become rude adults. And so the cycle continues.

As far as letter-writing, that's a "skill" that a lot of people don't feel comfortable doing and don't have time for. And with the advent of email, I can't see that it will change. I have to admit that I prefer sending letters via email now. It's just so much easier and faster. And I think this is when technology has done society a favour because we all probably correspond more now than we ever did before. It's just that it's not a hand-written letter anymore. That's the sad part of this dying skill. In the past, people would save letters and have them to look at and treasure. And famous people have their letters in libraries and museums because we can look at the distinctive handwriting and appreciate the fact that it was created by that famous person's hand. What of the future when letters are all typed as emails. I can't see us gazing at those letters - even by famous people - in the same way we do for letters from the time before email.

And cooking meals from scratch is becoming a lost skill because so many families have both parents working and the lack of time and energy after work means a lot of them are resorting to store bought meals. Also, children aren't taught how to cook at home and schools don't devote as much time as they should with cookery lessons.

Neighbourliness is basically being friendly and courteous and helping one another out. I honestly haven't noticed a problem with that in my neighbourhood. My neighbours are all very friendly and willing to help out if needed. I live in a small town so that may explain it. I'm sure big cities and large towns probably do have a lack of neighbourliness.

I think the declining skill of speaking correctly isn't as much of a problem as bad manners but it can certainly annoy me as much as it does other people and I can understand why it was fifth in the poll. It's very frustrating to have to struggle to understand people sometimes. I find this is particularly annoying during telephone calls. It's incredible how many businesses have employees making phone calls or answering their phones who can't speak properly.

What do you think of the list of declining skills? Do you agree with the list? Do you think there other dying life skills that should be on the list?