I don't care what you guys say....

tcm, i believe. i had the hots for june allyson when i was a lad. i don't know if it was the f*ck-me voice or the very nice bod. i rewatch that about once a year, mostly to remind me of when many people were polite.

and" on one of the movie channels last

people used to be polite?!

Makes a great double feature with The Bridges At Toko-Ri - Grace Kelly instead of June Allyson.

Jack G.

well, much more so than today. it is my belief that you can measure the decline of a civilization by the rate of decline in civility. as a culture dies, rudeness becomes a touchstone. i can see, and often hear the decline. people holding doors, giving seats to the elderly and waiting for people to exit before shoving one's way onto public conveyance are all a pretty good guide to a state of health. brother and sisters, hang onto that strap. it's going to be a REALLY bumpy flight.

yeah, we know all of those and more, as you do. i used to think it was rude to just ignore people accosting me for whatever reason. panhandlers, etc. but one day i was assaulted by a brain dead hubbardite who was determined to get either money or my time. he was so obnoxious and determined to get something from me i had to accomodate him.. bad day to pick. i was in a bad mood. after the third time of trying to get passed him in the bus aisle, and hearing his want to see a movie etc spiel, i had had quite enough. i decided to give him the whole dianetics is actual john campell's rational living philosophy that l mo-ron had simply stolen, forged new serial numbers on and called his own on. very crowded bus, so i had to stand in his face and use my even-a-power-amplifier-won't-stop-me voice. the bus quieted down and people listened. the hubbardite tryed to shrink to a dot and got redder and redder as i quoted heinlein's comments. for some reason, he got off at the very next spot. the audience gave me a few attaboys and laughs. i will hold doors, give seats to those in need, and try to be polite. but.... mr wmb, i suspect you do just fine.

I'm still polite. Practically everyday I bite my lip and refrain from calling down some mullet head without the brains of a goldfish.

You know the types. Like the first guy in line in the right lane who realizes just when the light turns green that he really needs to be in the left turning lane, which just so happens to be redlighted and stacked up all the way back to where you are. So the dimwit brakes up, hits his blinker and decides we're all going to wait along with him as our light goes red-green-red-green-red.

Or the putz's that ambushes you with a survey or sample tray; even though as they approach, you've dropped your gaze, dropped your shoulders and have picked up speed worthy of an open field running back about to break one open.

Or the guy... sorry, I'll try to be polite.

WmB

A tad too much Mickey Rooney for my taste, but Frederic March makes up for it in spades.

I recently read that the Michener novel and movie were based on actual events witnessed by Michener during his time aboard the USS Valley Forge. This is a pretty good accounting of the influences on Michener's book:

The notable difference between reality, the book and the movie is that Michener had no way of knowing at the time, that the downed airmen surrounded by the Chicoms survived the action and were returned home after the war.

WmB

ndy

one

I find it getting harder and harder to be polite to people for whom ESL. Like my new "party until morning" neighbors...

yeah, my esl retards with two of those stupid english terriers teid to the back stairs. they like to bark. a lot. one neighbor got so fed up he calld the cops. 9 times, so far. the dog owners are really quick on the uptake.... the dogs face my house, 12 feet away.

It's not like that everywhere. I'm in Poway, near San Diego. Our neighborhood's got people speaking heavily accented English. They work hard, make honest money, and live modestly.

When my neighbor turned 19, her brother came over, told us about the party, and said if it got too noisy, to let them know. I told 'em to go for it and have a great time. Didn't hear a thing.

Politeness is good, but respect gets you a lot farther. Not everyone is going to have the same values or customs. But, that's the great thing about the US. We get to choose.

Cheers, Dave Ambrose

Oh, I'm sure some of my neighbors work. Since it's a corner house, 2 bedrooms...and we now have a dozen work trucks parked, running up the streets, down our street, around the corner, down that one...along with the 4 junk cars in their driveway, and a back yard that now consists of weeds and a 6 foot deep stack of ladders. We are hoping the economy improves enough to be safe to move soon. When they throw parties, if anyone asks them to quiet down a bit, they stare and laugh. When will they "respect" my desire to sleep at 3 am?

Dave Ambrose wrote in news:H953m.1013$3o6.26 @newsfe24.iad:

Ann and I got married in the backyard of the house we lived in at the time. We went around to every house on the block and talked to or left notes if we couldn't get to them directly. We let them know what was going to happen, when, invited them all to the reception and asked them about parking and told them if they had any issues to come see us immediately.

Most of them were very surprised. All of them wished us luck and were cooperative.

Frank

sure, my other esl neighbors are great. no stupid goddam dogs.

some of my other neighbors would be more likely to eat dogs then keep them as pets...

ndy

one

Hubbardite?? Wazzzat? There was a writer (pamphleteer, actually) named Elbert Hubbard who's attitude was "If a man isn't willing to give an honest day's work for an honest day's pay, he should be given the taste of a thick-soled number nine." Whattta guy! He died on the Lusitania while going to England to try and broker a peace deal during the Great War.

Thanks for the reminder, I'm adding this to my dvd list.

Ah, count me in as a believer in the rudeness as a sign of societal decline. A civilization is by definition civil. (sorry for the trivial turn of phrase. :-)

LOL, I uncorked on some Jehovah's Witlessness a while back. They weren't rude but I was just so annoyed at their "come on" that if I joined, all sorts of wonderful things would just come my way. Years ago there was a hilarious thread on Alt.pranks (or something like that) about things to do to Jehovah's that come a knocking.

It's always nice to be asked. A former neighbor used to have parties occasionally and he would direct his guests to park in the field between his house and ours. Our field, our property. Never once asked once if it was OK to do so. His problems went deeper than that. The guy was an all around prick in general. He let everyone around him know that his general feeling was that he was building an oasis among folks that didn't care to invest 6 hours per day into their landscaping projects. Excuse the hell out of me for working 12 hour days at the office popping Prilosec like hard candy. I mow my lawn, trim my shrubs and dump the refuse where I'm supposed to - mission accomplished.

He quickly became known around town as the Lawnmower Man. Didn't feel too sorry for him when his 32 year old wife dumped his 52 year old ass for a guy with a bigger house, fatter wallet and more recent date of birth.

The guy that moved in after him is old school polite and respectful - and oddly enough, ten years younger than me. Always asking if it's OK to park his work truck in the lot or if he can dump his tree clippings along the curb in front of the lot, and just before a party last year, would it be OK to let his guests park in the lot.

Yes, sir - asking makes all the difference in the world.

WmB

L. Ron Hubbard, a science fiction writer, and the founder of the Church of Scientology, which some of Hollywood celebrities.espouse, like Tom Cruise. John Travolta, Paris Hilton, and others.

...

Andy

on one

Thanks for reminding me. I read ~one~ of Hubbard's stories, called "The Lieutenant". It was barely readable. His much-touted "Battlefield Earth" was rediculous. Too bad he started believing his pulp.....