I’ve noticed a disturbing trend among “kids these days.” When given a “thank you” they will return a “yup” or a “yeah.” It drives me insane.

When I was a kid, my Dad was a manners Nazi. Elbows off the table! Please and thank you! Ask before doing! And if someone said “thank you,” failing to respond with a “you’re welcome” would result in the look. A look so menacing that, without words, my Dad could convey that he fully intended to teach me what it means to regret. A look which would leave me with no doubt that my Dad could - and would - end me.

This makes it sound like my Dad was quite the bully and while I’m sure he thinks that he’s a bad ass, the truth is that he was a one trick pony. Never, ever in my childhood did my Dad have to escalate a situation beyond the look. He didn’t have to hit me, or spank me, or yell at me; he used the look to let me know that if I did not immediately reconsider my actions he would do something much worse. Mind you, I have no idea what, but the look made it pretty clear that I didn’t want to find out. The few times I dared to test the boundaries of the look and question its absolute authority, I was met with a somehow more menacing look, and the phrase “did you just lose your mind?” I never once pressed beyond that point for fear that if the look hardened once more I would catch fire.

Now I’m sure that most people in the world will tell you that threatening your kids is a bad thing, and I’m fairly confident that spankings aren’t really acceptable anymore. It’s just that it seems to me that kids, by nature, will test every boundary placed in front of them. If there are no repercussions for crossing those boundaries, there is no incentive to obey them.

The decay of manners bothers me. I fear that my own daughter will end up as one of those punk kids. Something so simple as saying “you’re welcome” makes a big difference in how people perceive you. I would be embarrassed to hear my daughter reply “yup” to “thank you”; so why doesn’t anyone else seem to be? All I know is that I think it’s time I start practicing the look in the mirror. I could never hurt my daughter, but she doesn’t need to know that.