Yes Allan, I am off the rails at times, but I do decry the decline of civility in modern American society. I was quite amazed by the quiet interaction between two French woman and the five children they were traveling with on the Chunnel a couple of years ago, this being in direct contradiction to the same sort of group on the BART and the Cal Train in No. Cal. Furthermore, my observation in Paris was that people were quiet, didn’t scream their private business on their cell phones in public places, never yelled and cussed (taxi drivers excepted), and spoke discreetly behind their hands in restaurants.
