COMMON COURTESY- gone for good?

I hope not. Didn’t our parents or our kindergarten teachers teach us common courtesy? It is a question I ask myself more and more lately. I just shake my head and wonder when we hear about situations such as what is going on in the small city of Greenfield, Mn. (population about 2,500 and located in Hennepin County). There is such a rift happening that council meetings end up being shouting matches with people standing up and telling others to “shut up” and then being shouted down by those being shouted at. This is not what our parents taught us. This is not what we learned in Sunday School. This is not what we learned in kindergarten or elementary school. OR IS IT? Are parents teaching these principles or even leading by example? I may be stereotyping here, but it appears people 40 and under have not learned these basic principles of “respect”. Evidently they didn’t take the hint from Aretha either.
I thought we folks in Nicollet County were above all of this. Evidently not. Last night at the Nicollet County Township officers meeting, I was saddened to observe a “scaled down” version of this lack of civility. The first presenters at the meeting were Senator Kathy Sheran and Rep. Terry Morrow. To their credit, the town board members granted them the respect they deserve. They listened and asked pointed questions. Later on, several county folks and their own members made presentations, but during this time the town board officers found it more important to carry on their own “sideline conversations” at the same time. Basic rule of courtesy: only one person talks at a time. It was violated several times at last night’s meeting. end