A friend and I had dinner in a nice restaurant recently. While waiting on our dinner, I noticed that four men with dinner dates, at different tables, had their baseball caps on. Several others had their shirt tails out, some ate with their mouths open and others propped their elbows on the tables.

My companion and I pondered: What has happened to good manners? Class is something that you are born with; you either have it or you do not. Good manners, however, are by choice, and something that someone can always work to improve, or not. Good manners are a tool by which one makes those around them feel at ease. To show good manners, it is not necessary for a person to know the difference between a shrimp fork and an oyster fork, but it is necessary for one to have enough self-respect that he or she can show mutual respect to their peers.

That vehicle is good manners. If one starts to practice them daily, they will become second nature and, soon, they will not have to think about them, like a reflex action.

I would never point someone's social faux pas to them in public as that would be very ill-mannered, so I chose The Augusta Chronicle . The saying "Treat others like you want to be treated" is an easy way to start.

Don Tate, Evans