In Its Natural State, The Child Tells

What You Have When Everyone Wears The Same Playclothes For All Occasions, Is Addressed By Nickname, Expected To Participate In Show And Tell, And Bullied Out Of Any Desire Form Privacy, Is Not Democracy; It Is Kindergarten.

Gentle Reader: You, Sir, Are An Anarchist, And Miss Manners Is Frightened To Have Anything To Do With You. It Is True That Questioning The Table Manners Of Others Is Rude. But To Overthrow The Accepted Conventions Of Society, On The Flimsy Grounds That You Have Found Them Silly, Inefficient And Discomforting, Is A Dangerous Step Toward Destroying Civilization.

Yes, Etiquette Is Hypocritical. Yes, It Does Inhibit Children - If You're Lucky. But The Idea That It's Elitist And Irrelevant Is Like Saying Language Is Elitist And Irrelevant.

She Only Maintains That It Is Possible, Under Some Circumstances, For A Lady To Murder Her Husband; But That A Woman Who Wears Ankle-strap Shoes And Smokes On The Street Corner, Though She May Be A Joy To All Who Know Her And Have Devoted Her Life To Charity, Could Never Qualify As A Lady.

Being Listened To Should Be Sufficiently Gratifying In Itself, Whether Or Not The Advice Is Followed.