The Lesson of Consideration

We enjoyed an especially Big evening yesterday. Mr. Big Food had something in the slow cooker so supper preparations were minimal. He loaded up some tunes from the Redneck Collection and sauteed some mushrooms for a little appetizer. I fixed us a cocktail and grabbed a crappy old book I'd been meaning to spend some time with. 

Occasionally, I'd interrupted the music by reading aloud a few sentences. I'd just finished reading The Lesson of Consideration

The Book of Good Manners by Frederick H. Martens, published in 1923 by Social Culture Publications, New York. "Manufactured in U.S.A."

and was getting ready to read this 

Any little girl whose parents' means place her in a position to boast to less fortunate playmates about the superior beauty of her dolls or the greater cost of her dresses, is guilty of a rudeness of an especially hateful and vulgar sort [my emphasis]

when Dolly started singing A Coat of Many Colors.

Back through the years
I go wonderin once again
Back to the seasons of my youth
I recall a box of rags that someone gave us
And how my momma put the rags to use
There were rags of many colors
Every piece was small
And I didn't have a coat
And it was way down in the fall
Momma sewed the rags together
Sewin every piece with love
She made my coat of many colors
That I was so proud of
As she sewed, she told a story
From the bible, she had read
About a coat of many colors
Joseph wore and then she said
Perhaps this coat will bring you
Good luck and happiness
And I just couldnt wait to wear it
And momma blessed it with a kiss
Chorus:

My coat of many colors
That my momma made for me
Made only from rags
But I wore it so proudly
Although we had no money
I was rich as I could be
In my coat of many colors
My momma made for me

So with patches on my britches
Holes in both my shoes
In my coat of many colors
I hurried off to school
Just to find the others laughing
And making fun of me
In my coat of many colors
My momma made for me

And oh I couldnt understand it
For I felt I was rich
And I told them of the love
My momma sewed in every stitch
And I told em all the story
Momma told me while she sewed
And how my coat of many colors
Was worth more than all their clothes

But they didn't understand it
And I tried to make them see
That one is only poor
Only if they choose to be
Now I know we had no money
But I was rich as I could be
In my coat of many colors
My momma made for me
Made just for me

[my emphasis]
~~

Instapundit has been talking about manners, too.