I'm a pretty ballsy person and if someone did that to while I was getting my degree, I would have grabbed the microphone, talked into it and drawn every single person's attention to that rude man and ask him to please respect the graduates and take his phone call OUTSIDE. Sometimes you just have to fight fire with fire.

Besides my living in Canada, that's another reason as to why I'm not a Southern Belle. ;)

Re: Re: The deterioration of American society
 

You were raised right, Adrienne. :)

Sadly the Russian Tea Room is now closed. :(

Tickets to the theater and Lincoln Center are pretty expensive so people usually go there for a special occassion. Why not dress well? I remember my boyfriend surprised me at the door with tickets to Carnegie Hall. I was very casually dressed since it was raining. There was no way that I would go to Carnegie Hall dressed that way. I ran upstairs and changed.

People really don't know how to dress appropriately today.

At my dad's funeral two years ago, some people he knew from work came, almost all of them were in jeans, and one woman was in CUT OFF JEAN SHORTS!!!!

Here I am in my formal suit pants, blouse, and Manolos, and this woman is standing at my father's funeral looking like Daisy Mae. I was so livid. I had to go outside for 15 minutes. I felt so insulted and disrespected.

I've also noticed how the genereal level of formality in everything has gone down since I was a kid. I mean, 15 years ago, my mom never took me to church wearing anything less than a nice Sunday dress and my shiniest patent leather shoes. Today, for the exact same mass, I've seen people in jeans and t-shirts or with athletic shoes on. I'm amazed at it. I thought it was just an out west Arizona cowboy thing.

Then there are the times I've gone to the symphony or off-broadway shows at Gammage and seen students scrubbing it in baggy jeans.

Then again, I'm also a person that thinks casual fridays at work means to wear khackis instead of slacks or a skirt. Never jeans. So I guess I've got a bit of snob in me yet.

I think special occasions lose their "specialness" when people dress them down to the status-quo casual.

Boo to lazy people who can't manage to dress it up for a couple of hours.

Regarding child behaviour in restaurants and cell phones. That disgusts me. I leave my cell phone in the car when I go out to eat. Unlike my sister who sets hers on the table like it's an extra piece of silverware. Grr. That's my peeve, when she takes calls from her pals at dinner. Movies are the worst though. I have never been to a movie since the advent of cell phones that I didn't hear one go off in the middle of it.

And the children in restaurants thing bothers me. It really does. People nowadays don't know how to discipline their kids properly. And I'm not even talking about hitting them. When I was a kid, I knew sure as shine that if I acted up in the restaurant, I was going straight to my room when I got home and losing priveleges for the next day.

When I used to live in New York, I noticed that some women go to work wearing clothes meant for going out to clubs. I am all in favor of casual attire in the workplace, but this is ridiculous.

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i hate when people bring their infants to the movies. seriously, if you cant find a babysitter, dont bring them with you. i picked a crowded night to go to the movies, so i was crammed next to the couple who brought their baby along with all of their baby needs. that $%!@ baby started crying. fifteen min. into that movie, i left. why do some people lack common sense?

OK have you ever wondered if it's the crowds of people you run with? If I go to Ruths chris or whatnot, I'm not expecting people of the upper-income level. I'm sorry. People can play dressup all they want, but they're still unable to escape that.

I don't know who you invite to funerals either, but perhaps, once again, you should realize that they are in your socio-economic circle and their behavior towards appearance is a reflection of that grouping.

So go to an exclusive restaurant or go to an entertainment venue without discount seats that wouldn't attract tourists and you can see everyone dress up. They'll just think that your off-the-rack wardrobe is inappropriate.

-Rudey
--Wear John Lobb shoes gentlemen.

I read about a theater (I think in California) that has "Screaming Baby Matinees." On a certain weekday, they have a matinee especially for moms who want to get out and see a movie. They can bring their babies along if they want and no one gets upset if they cry, since their baby might be next. And everyone else knows to enter at their own risk.

Rudey - I don't think income has anything to do with it. I grew up in an area mainly composed of farmers and blue-collar workers. Just because they weren't rich or "cultured" didn't mean that they didn't know to have nice dressy clothes hanging in their closet that they wore for special nights out, weddings, and funerals. As a matter of fact, going back to the church clothing issue, the kids I see dressed MOST inappropriately usually are the ones whose parents have the most money and the more "upscale" jobs. I think it all goes back to the parents wanting to be buddies instead of parents. Oooh, your kid might get peeved at you if you make him wear dress shoes to church, so let him wear his sneakers and football jersey. Like someone else said, I can't wait till these kids go to job interviews in grunge-wear because they've never been corrected to know any better.

Actually, Rudey. If you're going to insult my family's class or socioeconomic status, I suggest you read up on us a bit first.

Just because someone comes to a funeral, or even if they're related to you, doesn't mean that they come from your socio-economic circle. Even all of the women in my sorority didn't come from the same socio-economic circles.

So you can kiss my spoiled snotty upper-middle class white ass next time you see me waving at you from the box seats at the symphony or getting seated in front of you at some "exclusive restaurant."

Rudey, I've been working in S. AFrica for 3 years now. I can tell you that there are people of lower income here. But I can also tell you that whenever we have a town meeting, they all come in with their best sunday dress and suits. While we wear khakis and button down shirts. I've been invited to churchers also, and event though many of these people are poor, they wear colorful dresses which they are proud of.

It's all about respecting each other. Our office dress code is casual, but that does not mean you come in wearing jeans, t-shirt and jogging shoes. I usually wear either polo or button down shirts and khakis. The ladies in the office usually wear the same thing. Of course when we go into the field, that's when I wear jeans and t-shirts.

As for the funeral, no matter what your income is, you should come in respected cloth. You are there to respect the departed person and his/her family. By showing up in only your everyday shirt, that means you have no respect toward the family or the departed person.

I think Rudey is just back on his elitist kick. ;)

And if that comment was directed at me - I don't even WANT to take the time to explain the varying socioeconomic groups that shift around in the 20 minutes between my town and GPBoys. Let's just say suburbs to rural.

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Let’s take a look at this shall we? I don’t know many if any lower income people that eat at restaurants where the most inexpensive thing on the menu is $27.95 for the main course, and that doesn’t come with any thing else on the plate. So typically the people going to Ruth’s Chris aren’t of what you seem to think is “lower” class.

And back to the clothing issue, which if I recall was one of aephi alum’s main complaints, I will post an excerpt from a book I am reading currently.

“Make no mistake, we judge others by their dress, and they judge us too. It may not be fair. It may not be right. But people tend to treat other people as they are dressed. It’s common sense. You will be treated as you are dressed. [...] How much credibility would a bank have if the teller who processes your paycheck was dressed in jeans and wore a T-shirt emblazoned with the slogan “Poverty sucks”? [...] In an ideal world, viewed through rose-colored glasses, it would be wonderful to be accepted for ourselves alone, not for our appearance. In the real world, however, our all-too-visible selves are under constant scrutiny.”

I totally agree with the above, as much as it’s unfair and it sucks that people judge you on what you wear they do. If you dress like a hooker, people are going to think you are one, even if you are the most virtuous person on earth. It may be an extreme example, but it’s true. If you dress like a slob, people are going to think you are one.

This is just all part of the dumbing down of America.

Shine, I am very sorry about your father.

I just hate traffic backups and such. If a game is a blowout or something like that than I don't mind beating the traffic. 20,000 people trying to leave a stadium at once is nuts of the area isn't prepared for that many cars. The nascar speedway here has two lane roads all around it and its always a three hour backup after a race. I wouldn't want to wait that long.

I do see what your saying about the amount of time you spend so whats another 20 minutes though.