old habits die hard

in jane austen's guide to good manners, we learn that visits should be returned promptly whenever they are expected. "any sense that an expected call is paid with reluctance will, naturally, cause an offense." (p 35)

fast forward to 2011, any guide to good manners would recommend returning text messages promptly for everyone knows that any sense than an expected text message is paid with reluctance will, naturally, cause an offense. thus you have college students texting during class, everyone texting while driving regardless of the risk of traffic accident, the obsession with pulling out the phone whenever you have a breathing space of more than 30 seconds.

so the same cultural cues that governed miss austen's habits 200 years ago continue calling the shots with the smart phone crowd. some things never change.