My colleague in Indiana, Leanne Hoagland-Smith, recently posted this article in the Post-Tribune.  I think she's spot on.

Years ago Pete Seeger penned this song, "Where Have All the Flowers Gone." This tune came to mind when I started thinking about "Where Have All the Manners Gone?"

Boorish and rude behaviors appear to have overgrown the flowerbeds of civility by strangling respectful and polite behaviors.

This change is not only in Northwest Indiana, but from the East Coast to West Coast and from the North Woods to the Gulf of Mexico. From my observations, courtesy and etiquette have been removed from planet Earth and transported away to at least a flowerbed on the former planet Pluto.

Remember Aesop's fable of the "Tortoise and the Hare?" The Hare in his arrogance ran ahead of the slow but steady moving Tortoise while thinking the entire time winning this race was truly a "no-brainer." He takes a nap and the ever consistently slow moving Tortoise passes him and wins the race.

Professionals without values such as respect, politeness, etc., represent the Hare.

These are the folks who constantly in "running behavior" by text messaging at formal business luncheons or even personal events such as weddings. They believe they are so important (arrogant) that each message must be responded to at once if not sooner.

Let's be honest and call these individuals what they are – rude, boorish oafs. No ifs, no ands no butts. And I am not talking about doctors who are on 24/7 notice because of life-or-death situations. No one individual in business is so important that he or she must be responding 24/7 to their Blackberries, cell phones or whatever latest and greatest electronic gadget is being used.

The answer to this dilemma is two-fold.

First, there should be a written values statement of non-negotiable behaviors. Second, there needs to an understanding specific to the difference between a "Must Do" and a "Should Do."

A Must Do is when someone gives her or his word or critical harm may come to someone else if action is not taken.

A "Should Do" is everything else.

Remember, there are truly only a few people who "Must" answer the phone or send that next text message or respond to that e-mail. And probably, in all honesty, you are not one of them.