Thoughts from the Gap: Manners, Politeness and the "Upward Nod of Acknowledgement"

It's been just over a week since I finished my first year of university and came back to chill out in Devon for a few months, and I realised I had forsaken my beloved Avid Readers for far too long. Especially since I left you with that terrible post about 'Converged Media Texts.'

I'm afraid I have to admit that I have been slipping in as far as actually reading newspapers and generally having an understanding of what is going on in the world. As such, this is going to be another in a series (that I have decided to do) of musings that leak out of the many perforations in my brain.

This post is about manners. Manners are the sort of thing that are ingrained in us from a young age and tend to define us as people. The English are stereotyped to be incredibly polite, and indeed it is an old English tradition to intensely avoid embarrassment, for oneself, but much more for the benefit of others.

In an attempt to think of an example of politeness, the first thing to come to mind is (to quote the Internet) that awkward moment when two people are walking towards each other along a path, or pavement. They are both desperately trying not to meet each others gaze. Yet at the same time, they sneak furtive glances at one another the closer they come, until, crescendo! each person realises that whilst they do not want to insinuate themselves into their counterparts day uninvited, it would be far too rude not to acknowledge them, culminating in a slightly hoarse, and generally very short, exchange that will more often than not, leave them both relieved to be done with it, and wishing that they had had something better to say than:

"Hello"
"Hi"
"Alright"
"Afternoon"
"Evening"
"Lovely weather for it..."

Or of course, the popularly neutral "upward nod of acknowledgement."

I discovered something interesting the other week. This is my own personal experience, but I find that I'm more likely to receive a positive response from the above situation if I'm doing some form of exercise i.e. running, cycling. I can only think that this is because I represent the vitality of youth (he says with a sideways smile) as opposed to the lurkers, the smokers, the HOODIES that plague the younger generations.

Of course, maybe I've grown too used to Hampshire and people down here in Devon people are just nicer.

Thanks for reading this pointlessly meandering message from beyond the boundaries of space and time. With any luck I'll get back into the habit of decently written nonsense in the near future.

Remember Avid Readers, manners cost nothing, and as always,

Much Love.