MANNERS AND OTHER MATTERS

The Dalai Lama in  Melbourne (photo Justin McManus, The Age)  It has been a fortnight in which bad manners have unfortunately had front and centre stage. These manners have not only been exemplified by our politicians, readying for the battle of a looming Federal Election, and some of the journalists who report on their campaign;  they have also dominated the headlines of the newspapers about the battle for appropriate behaviour on Western Australia’s public transport system. And I use the word “battle” cautiously.  It seems as if so much of Australian society, from the top down, is in “battle” mode.  Common courtesy and considerate gestures seem to have no place in this “lucky country” .  Unlike most of the world, while Australia endures some economic turbulence, we have nothing of the scale of Europe, for example. I have been interviewed a few times this week about manners in our society.   Tomorrow, following on from an in...

Balinese temple (photo LP 2010) I have returned in the past few days from a holiday in Bali, Indonesia, with my sister.  Unlike my trip in 2010 when I stayed more remotely in the north west at Pemuteran  and  the north east at Amed, this visit was to a five star resort in Legian. What a difference!  The streets of Legian were very busy, the locals almost outnumbered by the Australian tourists.  I heard very few languages other than “Aussie” spoken and it reminded me that when I travelled with my French boyfriend to the northern part of Bali, I was told by the Europeans I met that they tended to avoid the tourist hubs of Kuta, Legian and Seminyak because of the loud, rude and crude Australians…yes a generalisation about the Aussies, but unfortunately, as I was to learn, a correct one. A friendly local trying to sell us a toy (photo LP 2012) It is difficult to write this post without appearing a “snob”.  But having canvassed my ideas wit...

The "Peace" Rose (photo LP) This morning, when I returned home after a weekend away, enjoying the spring blossoming native wildflowers during  my walks,  I was delighted to see that the first of the spring roses had bloomed.  This rose is called "Peace" and comes from a 50 year old bush which was given to me by friends who were demolishing an old house;  the rosebush would not fit with their new garden. Geraldton Wax, a native bush which parades it's beautiful flowers only in Spring (photo LP) Some details about the "Peace" rose from Wikipedia:  It was developed by  French   horticulturist  Francis Meilland  in the years 1935 to 1939. When Meilland foresaw the German invasion of France he sent cuttings to friends in Italy, Turkey, Germany, and the United States to protect the new rose. It is said, that it was sent to the US on the last plane available As Meilland sent his cuttings just before the war, communication b...

Forget standing when women enter the room or calling all men “sir”. Modern western society would suggest that is behaviour from a forgotten time.  But what are the modern manners every child should have? When I was thinking about this post I returned to the memory of my father answering the telephone…the sort which was attached to a  wall and was shared among all members of the family. “Is Louise there?” would ask the tentative teenage male voice.  “Yes” was the response of my father as he put the telephone handset back into its cradle. Oh, the humiliation!  Whoever  the new “boyfriend” of the moment was, he had not asked the correct, and polite by my father’s standards, question: “Good evening…may I speak with Louise please”.   Then the answer would have been, perhaps:  “No, we are in the middle of dinner.  Why don’t you call back in half an hour”.  And then I would have to suffer through another half hour of polite family...

The Moore River, Guilderton...it flows into the Indian Ocean Ruby exploring among the vines Last weekend was spent with my son at my beach house at Guilderton.  The late autumn is a wonderful time of the year;  the countryside is slowly turning from burnished beige to tentative green;  the vine leaves are dropping;  the  summer wind has gone somewhere else to wreak it’s fury;  the sun is gentle but persistent after about mid morning;  and the chilly awakenings are conducive to enveloping clothes and warming cups of tea and coffee.   The part of me which almost continually thinks about things culinary turns to slow cooked meals, dredging up recipes from past and also recent European adventures . St Luke's Anglican Church, Gingin, 1860 We went exploring in the region of Gingin.  There is a wonderful old church in the town, or at least old by Australian standards! We took the dogs for a walk through the ...

Forget standing when women enter the room or calling all men ‘sir’- that’s behaviour from a forgotten time.  But what are the modern manners every child should have? The past century, particularly since WWII, has seen Western society move away from the highly stratified and rule-ridden days of the past.  Rules of etiquette which previously defined social status were largely abandoned and are now often regarded as unnecessary, old-fashioned or even snobbish.  We have increasingly embraced the notion of the free-thinking individual, unfettered by rules.  We emphasise the importance of good self-esteem and encourage children to express themselves freely.  We try to be open-minded and non-judgemental about different cultures and backgrounds. We mostly live in crowded urban environments.  Adults push in front of you to get on the bus, shout loudly into their mobile phones and act like it is a sign of weakness to let you into merging traffic. In g...