The Wall Street Journal publishes a magazine for their subscribers every other month. In general, it is full of advertisements for expensive luxuries, and moody articles about different things. However, the written word still prevails, and in each edition, there is a Soapbox feature, a page where six people get to weigh in on one single topic, chosen for them by the editors. The topics vary from tangible to conceptual; the most recent issue covered Manners.
Laura Dern is an actress in The Founder, a film coming out in January, and in Big Little Lies, a miniseries airing on HBO in February. She wrote a particularly insightful blurb, saying,
"It's always thrilling when I meet people, particularly men, whose manners are beautiful. My earliest education in manners came from my Southern Grandmother and Southern mother.
I was raised to believe that a man opened the door for a lady; he walked down the stairs in front of her so that should she trip and fall he could catch her.
A properly raised gentleman considered how he could support a woman, not because she's more delicate, but because it was the right thing to do. So the presidential election has been a true education for me and for my daughter as well.
The most offensive quality is the quality of a bully. My grandmother taught me that even when you're angry, you must treat others with respect. You must learn how to rise above."
Even when someone is trying to pick a fight, even when no one is looking, you must learn how to rise above.
It is a building block of character, and the ability to do so will be invaluable for the rest of your life.