Comments on: Morning Metro: Decatur Teachers Awarded, Damn Yankees, and One World City

By: Warren Buffett

Warren Buffett — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 17:35:20 +0000

“Paris of the South” – that’s Asheville, NC. At least that’s what “they” say.

By: chris

chris — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 16:44:10 +0000

Don’t get worked up about the manners article. It’s a fake trend invented by the NY Times. They do it all the time. And I’m a fan of the Times.

By: fifi

fifi — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 16:20:16 +0000

Well put Keith. That is exactly the way I was taught growing up in New England.

I found this didn’t work very well with my own children due to blended families and modern customs regarding married names. My young children couldn’t remember all the last names since friends often don’t have the same last name as their parents – or at least as their mother. We ended up resorting to either first names or “ma’am” and “sir” . With older adults (seniors) we use Miss or Mr with the first name.

By: Keith F

Keith F — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 16:07:42 +0000

Growing up in the North, it’s true that I don’t recall a lot of “Yes sir” and “Yes ma’am” but we did encourage the more formal use of names which I think accomplishes a lot of the same thing. It was always Mr. and Mrs. Johnson and never Mr. Keith and Miss Sarah.

I still prefer having children use last names as I think it encourages the respect that the familiarity of a first name does not. Back home, if you were familiar enough to have your first name used with a child, you became Uncle Keith, as I am to my closest friend’s children, instead of Mr. Keith.

Even now as an adult, my friends parents are still Mr. and Mrs. when I address them.

By: RJB

RJB — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 15:44:06 +0000

If civility is king in the south as many have claimed to be for years, how does that contrast with a heritage of segregation? The article points out that cilvilty was taught to maintain social order in a society where blacks and women were second-class citiznes.