Where have all the Finishing Schools gone?

When I was a little girl, I became obsessed with the idea of “finishing school.”  Old movies, books and older people talked fondly of this type of institution, and even then, I found the idea appealing.

Of course, this was during the 1980s and it soon became obvious that these old fashioned places that taught young ladies how to become, well, ladies, had gone the way of the dinosaurs.

Yes, I went through my Aqua Net hair phase, where I sported a minimum of twenty bracelets on each arm, and blasted cassette tapes by Poison and Guns’n’Roses, late into the night, but my manners remained intact.

Even as an adult, covered in tattoos and with my share of piercings, manners, etiquette, and charm remain near and dear to me.

The love of old world charm isn’t enough for me to create a new blog though…not with my busy lifestyle – multiple jobs and projects; a family; my many hobbies –  But the fact that it’s apparent to me that we live in a society in desperate need of those antiquated finishing schools, is!

I go to a gym regularly…and I see rude people.

I go shopping or to a restaurant…I see rude people.

I hang out online, on various social networking sites…and you guessed it.  Rude people.

And it really goes beyond “rude,” friends!  It’s a general lack of old fashioned charm.  It’s the absence of that little je nais se quois that seemed to flow in abundance in days of old, but is as good as extinct, in this day and age.

I had been toying with the idea of penning a few blogs about manners, etiquette and poise but hadn’t been able to bring myself to quit clicking “Like” on FaceBook long enough to do so…until yesterday.

A kindly waitress at a funky Austin eatery came by to refill my iced tea as we ate lunch yesterday.  “More tea for the Lady?” She asked.  Being silly, I looked to both sides and said “Where is the Lady?”  She laughed, and said “Right here” as she filled my cup with Hibiscus Mint tea.

It was a sign from the Finishing School Gods to start this blog and see if we can’t bring a little old fashioned charm into a fast-paced, new fashioned world that not only needs it, but is literally begging for it, as well.

What’s old is new again.

🙂

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