Sir, - Over the past decades all vestiges of good manners have disappeared. First names at very first introduction are the norm when booking a theatre or airline tickets. A total stranger calls one by one's Christian name - and don't get me on patients in hospital. On TV and radio chat-shows people tell the world in microscopic detail of what belongs to their bedrooms. I call it "the pubic hair syndrome" - very boring. As for newly-weds, few write to say "thank you" for a wedding gift. This is utterly rude.
Amanda Craig (Sunday Times) wrote a splendid piece recently remarking that reserve and formality can be something of a weapon. Peter Mandelson's letter of resignation to Prime Minister Blair was signed off (ridiculously) with "Love - as ever." When Jean Harlow constantly addressed Margot Asquit as "MarGOT", she retorted "The `T' is silent, as in Harlow." Did Jean get the message?
As for Anglo-Saxon expletives and litter on our streets - they are all part of our hideous new world where nothing is sacred or inviolable. We have no respect for anyone or anything and example from on high is not brilliant. - Yours, etc., Alice Johnson,
Merrion Village, Ballsbridge Dublin 4.