Have you ever wondered why we can’t belch at the dinner table, or why we have to chew with our mouths closed? Well of course you haven’t because that’s just using good manners. Well who decided that?

Herbert Spencer once wrote ” Ceremonies, manners, whatever you please to call them, are necessarily the first law which binds man, because they are personal and concrete. The earliest necessity for a savage is to show his fellow that he does not mean to fight him, but intends rather to live peaceably with him and give him his dues.” What I understand from that, is that we had been so aggressive by nature and needed a set form of expression.

If you are unfamiliar with bad manners, some of them include: (list 1)

• Belching in public
• Expelling gas in public (farting)
• Chewing with your mouth open
• Saying please and thank you

And I think you get the point.

 Now here are my views about the above list: (list 2)

• If you have to burp, burp. Why would you tell someone they are rude for belching? I would find it more rude if someone told me not to. That’s just making my insides very uncomfortable.
• Let out a nasty fart. At least a silent one. This one is a little touchy, but I believe if you can pull it off discretely, let ‘er rip and save yourself the discomfort.
• If someone saw the food on your plate, why can’t they see it in your mouth? If you must chew with your mouth open, do it. Just don’t smack it around so the whole world can hear you.
• Saying please and thank you has become a habit for most people. Do you really think of an appropriate time to say it, or do you just say it every time someone holds the door for you? It is very polite to say “please” and “thank you” but when you over use the words, that’s when they lose their meaning.

     If Herbert Spencer is correct, the manners listed in list one were slowly developed by civilizations throughout the years to appear more civilized. What made their decisions is possibly unknown, but it makes you think of the possibilities they had. What “standards” we have today could have been something like stabbing your new neighbor instead of bringing them cookies. I applaud those past civilizations for their creation of manners, but also have to frown on our own for enforcing some of the silliest of them.