The other night, Chet and I finally saw No Country for Old Men, starring Tommy Lee Jones and Josh Brolin; and I must say this is one fantastic movie, as well as one I intend to see again—and soon. Moreover, also in the not-too-distant future, unless the fates conspire and prevent my doing so, I intend to write an in-depth analysis of this movie, although I am positive that some movie critic somewhere, maybe even more than one critic, has already undertaken this endeavor and will beat me to the proverbial punch.  Not that it matters, since my analysis will be my analysis and, therefore, unlike other analyses, including those of movie critics. (And no, I have not been drinking. That sentence simply came out as it did under its own volition.)

On the other hand, tonight I intend to address only one line from the movie, mainly because this one line propelled me to start thinking about how much this world we live in has changed since I was a girl growing up back in Fairburn, Georgia. This line to which I am referring occurs when Tommy Lee Jones, who plays the aging sheriff of a small Texas town, is sitting in a diner with another “old timer” and the old timer says, “I knew this world was in a mess when kids stopped saying, ‘Yes, sir’ and ‘Yes, ma’am.’” 

I don’t know about you, but I have also noticed this phenomenon. Kids no longer say “Yes, sir” and “Yes, ma’am.” Neither do they say, “No, sir” and “No, ma’am.” What they do say, however, is “Yes,” “No,” Yeah,” “Sure,” “Uh, huh,” “Nope,” or some other word meant to convey the affirmative or the negative; but whatever it is that they say, it certainly isn’t followed by “sir” or “ma’am.”

I wonder why this is the case? Is it because parents today aren’t teaching their kids any manners? Is it because parents have stopped demanding that their kids show them and other adults a little respect by addressing them as “sir” or “ma’am”? Who knows? I certainly don’t. What I do know, however, is that if my siblings and I had addressed our parents without adding “Sir” or “Ma’am” to whatever we were saying at the moment, we would have faced one—or all—of several swift reprisals:

1. Seeing our parent go white around the mouth before he or she growled, “Don’t you dare talk to me in that tone, young lady (or young man). What on earth happened to your manners? Were you raised in a barn?”  
2. Being flailed within an inch of our lives with a peach switch.
3. Being slapped across the face with a wet dishrag.
4. Being whapped across the backside with a broom.
5. Being sent to bed without supper.
6. Having our mouths washed out with Lifebuoy soap.
7. Finding ourselves grounded for a year, with no time off for good behavior. 

You know something; that old timer in No Country For Old Men is right; this county is in a mess. Of course, in reality, kids’ lack of respect for their elders is just one of many symptoms of a disease that’s been gnawing away at the fabric of civility in this nation, or what little bit of civility remains, for some time now. And that disease is apathy. That’s right, apathy. Kids today simply do not care. They’re too lazy and indifferent to care. But why should they care? Their parents certainly don’t care. For if they did, those parents would do something to change the situation. They would, in fact, demand that their kids show a little respect for their elders. Then again, I guess the sad reality is that most kids today don’t think their elders deserve any respect; and, of course, the question that now arises is, whose fault is that?