Unfortunately, there are those who actually take offense at being called "Miss" or "Mister", and those who take offense at someone holding the door open for them. I taught my sons to be respectful of their elders, but what do you do when "Miss Betty" tells them to just call her "Betty"? I took her aside and told her that it was a sign of respect, and I'd like them to keep calling her that. She insisted that they NOT. So I told my boys they didn't need to show her respect. Grrr. And when my boys DO hold doors open for people and are ignored in response, I loudly praise them for their good manners.

My gsons call my friends Miss.... or Mr....first name, please and thank you are the norm here. No talking with food in your mouth, if you need to speak, it is excuse me please. Even at 7, if he can hold the door open (some are pretty heavy) he does....and toilet lids are all the way down.

My kids still call people they knew as little kids Mr. Ronnie and Ms. Debbie, etc. My best friend and I have taught VBS together for years and half the time I call her Ms. Bobbie out of habit, even among other adults.
As a young mom I was a teacher's aide at the elementary school. One of the teachers had been my 6th grade PE teacher and it took me nearly half the year to bring myself to call her Ina Mary instead of Mrs. Fossett. It just didn't feel right! But she said I made her feel old, so I tried really hard...

I think children emulate what they see and hear.

What are they seeing and hearing?

Exactly!

denise d just brought back a memory!!
When my boys were little there was one real bratty kid who was in the group. One day I told all the kids that they were all to go out now.
They all went out the door except for the brat. He looked me right in the eye and said " Well, you need to go out too". I said "Excuse me??" He replied " You said- everyone outside".
If my kids did that I would have clobbered them!!
I knew his parents and really liked them but let's just say our parenting methods were a bit different! :D

I agree courtesy and good manners have gotten lost somewhere. But you can't entirely blame the kids you have to blame the parents for bringing them up that way.

Thanks Denised for putting the responsibility where it belongs. I speak for all of us in education when I say it is our responsibility to educate children, it is the Parents responsibility to raise them. We come along side the parents, but children emulate and copy what is modeled for them at home. I am a teacher turned media specialist in a private school filled with children from economically blessed homes all the way to struggling scholarshipped homes. Our students are praised and welcomed wherever we go because they have no doubts about the manners and behavior we expect from them. The students that need the most "help" with their manners and behavior are the children of parents that are consistently rude and display poor manners to staff and other parents and students. You have to model the behavior you expect children to use. Off my soapbox now.

Am I the only one who doesn't care for the "Miss Julie" coming from children? I'm not a Miss and I did not give a child permission to use my first name - I should be Mrs. R* (or Ms, that works well, too) until or unless I invite a child to use my first name.

Sorry, pet peeve.

On the other hand, I'm a college-educated IT professional with four direct reports, three of whom are men. If I have to take "Miss Julie" in order to be a woman free to choose her own destiny and prosper in it, I will deal with that.

It's all in the way we live isn't it? Even if you don't want to refer to class?? But class does exists, doesn't it? You can belong to the class that is polite and thankful or you can belong to the class that runs and pushes over people while rudely fighting with someone on your cell phone lol....isn't it ironic how the rude and mannerless seem to be constantly in area of the polite and thankful? That is because if a bunch of them got in a group, they would seriously injure each other.....

And while we are on the subject..how about some table manners? hahahahah I won't even go there....

It is always a pleasure to meet a person with manners....