I have decided to forgo any resolutions this New Year and focus on one bad habit that others and I share and I would like to improve upon. Ungratefulness.

Everywhere I go it seems people get ruder by the day. I noticed a girl at the post office the other day who had knelt down on her knees and stretched her hand underneath the counter with all the dust bunnies just to retrieve a dime another customer had dropped.

Would you believe that customer took the dime and never even grunted a thank you? I thought to myself, what an absolute creep, and then I smiled and shrugged my shoulders at the young girl as she dusted off her hands and walked out the door.

If this were an isolated incident I might be able to let it pass but it isn't. It's a way of life for so many young people and adults alike. Good manners have gone the way of the hulahoop and the dial phone.

I have spent hours upon hours making handcrafted items for people to have them open the package and say, in a monotone voice, "Oh, that's nice."

I promise you, I wanted to say, "Here, let me have that back. I'll find you something that didn't require as much work and time as this did and save this for someone who has a clue," but I was too chicken.

In this day of brides registering for gifts and getting everything for their households before the ink on their marriage license is even dry, I suppose it should not be surprising that we have raised a generation of ingrates, totally devoid of any good manners.

My talented cousin spends days sewing and smocking adorable little baby dresses to give as gifts to special friends and relatives. Her efforts are most definitely labors of love, or else she's lost her marbles, for she now has carpal tunnel syndrome and is losing her eyesight, yet she continues to make these works of art.

Now I'm in no way hinting that she should smock a dress for my little granddaughter who is due in February.

I do, however, have a really nice thank-you note prepared should that happen.

She told me of one such dress she designed and meticulously smocked for several weeks to give relatives for their first baby. She hand-delivered the gift over two years ago and has yet to receive a thank-you or even an acknowledgment of the gift.

I asked her why she continues to go to such pains to make these keepsakes when the recipients obviously don't care how much work went into them and she said, "Well, I was taught to do things special for people I care about, and I can no more stop doing that than they can stop being rude, I guess."

I disagree. Some parent somewhere has fallen down on the job. Teaching Manners 101 should have begun the minute the child uttered his first words, which were probably "Give it to me!" and "It's mine!"

Stories are legion of brides who have waited until they'd been married several years before they shot off a few thank you notes and even then, the notes were pitifully generic.

"Thank you so much for the gift. We will certainly enjoy it. Thanks for remembering us at this time in our lives." Dull. Dull. Dull.

Okay, maybe I'm being a little harsh here. At least they wrote something, as unfeeling as it was.

We are rude even with our families. Please and thank-you are words that are seldom used anymore in our homes. We are in such a mad rush to go who knows where, and usually with a cell phone stuck to our heads, that we take little time to speak, let alone to express common courtesy to one another.

And pardon my southernness but I still like to hear a child say "Yes, sir," and "Yes, ma'am." It denotes respect, not subservience like so many northerners think. Sadly, teachers in our public schools don't require that expression anymore and, believe me; it has had a negative influence in the classroom.

What's wrong with making your children write thank you notes for gifts and kind expressions shown to them? Yes, we now have computers. I use mine every day. Still, there's absolutely nothing like a real honestto goodness hand written note that comes in the mail to brighten up someone's day.

A note that can be read again and again is far superior to any e-mail or telephone call. Yes, it takes a little time and thought, but isn't the donor of such kindness worth it? I think so.

I was taught to always mind my manners, to be courteous to people, to hold the door for others who came behind me, to cover my mouth when I sneezed, not to talk with my mouth full, and to always remember the "magic" words "Please" and "Thank You."

My parents taught me to sit up straight, to never chew gum in church, to keep my elbows off the table, to clean up after myself, to respect my elders, and to use the words "Excuse me" whenever applicable.

I was also taught to be grateful for kindnesses shown me.

At every birthday party I ever had my mother would say, "Now, you thank each and every person who gives you a gift, even if you don't like it or you already have one."

I learned it was always right to make sure another's feelings weren't hurt on my account.

I was taught the value of a handwritten thank-you note when I first learned to write my name. I've loved penning notes ever since that time and it is because my mama showed me by example that I could make someone's day with a few kind words on a cheery piece of stationery.

I save notes. I have every Get Well card I've ever received and every note written to me. I go through them every two years or so and the notes warm my heart, even though some were written by people I have neither seen nor heard from since.

It doesn't take that much energy or time to write a note of appreciation to another and it is the worst breech of etiquette to fail to verbally express thanks.

Being polite costs us nothing and yet the rewards are priceless. Kindness is, after all, the basis for what we know as civilization.

Please join me, dear hearts, in reviving good old-fashioned good manners by practicing them for others to see. I know you will, and I thank you in advance.