Let’s face it, dear readers, Anno Domini 2016 may be the worst year on record for the decline of Perfect Propriety. Etiquetteer turns the page to a New Year with no regret, but with some alarm. The signs for an improvement in the etiquette climate for 2017 are not hopeful, and yet Etiquetteer does have hope that Perfect Propriety can make a Vigorous Comeback. But Etiquetteer can’t do it alone. All of us must take part! It will take all our resolve, and all our resolution, especially in the realm of civil political discourse, to bring back a world of Perfect Propriety, and we must do all we may to make it so.
So for tonight, a toast* borrowed from Noel Coward’s Cavalcade: “Let us drink to the hope that one day this country, which we love so much, will find dignity, and greatness, and peace again.”
*The toast begins at 1:47:13; the line that Etiquetteer adopts is at 1:47:43. But do watch the whole film sometime.
Etiquetteer would like to wish you a Peaceful and Perfectly Proper Happy New Year.