Where are your manners?

There is a trend in this country that is being overlooked. Maybe I am overly sensitive about it, but good manners are disappearing. People dont say things like,Please, Thank you. Nobody says "May I..." and sir or ma'am are rarely heard.Growing up in the stonage of the 50's and 60's in the deep South children had manners. I would never consider saying "yeah" to an adult. It was even a custom in the South that a child or young person sitting in a room with adults would offer his or her seat when an adult entered the room. Not now. Young people dont respect their elders or any kind of authority figure no matter how small. I've seen small children saying "what?" to their parents when they should be learning to say "yes, sir?". Many teens and young adults are so self-absorbed that they think manners are not necessary. How hard would it be to say to a sales-clerk "Thank you, ma'am"? People today say,"they dont respect me, so why should I respect them?" What would it hurt? Thank you.