Tammy Foster, age 12, of Tucson, Arizona, for her question:

Where did manners come from?

Nobody knows, so we're free to make a few likely guesses of our own. Host likely good manners and civilization were invented on the same day, because the two go hand in hand. By manners, we mean the way in which people behave toward others. Hence, it seems likely that several persons must have put their heads together to start the great invention on its way.

There are, of course, good manners and bad manners. We seem to know bad manners by heart and it usually takes a moment to recall the good manners to replace them. Possibly this has its roots in the long story of mankind. In which case, bad manners came first and good manners were invented later to make life more livable for everybody.

It's interesting to imagine what life was like in the long forgotten era of bad manners. No doubt grabbing was considered sensible and cheating was considered smart. Every person was on his or her own, so to speak, and nobody had a true and trusted friend. Naturally the bullies and cheats got the lion's share of everything and the average day was crowded with combat. Nobody gave a hoot about anybody else.

Historians cannot say when this primitive barbarism took a turn for the better. Possibly it was after a miserable massacre, when a few survivors squatted down and decided that surely there must be a better way for people to treat people. Nobody knows when or where this first conference occurred. No doubt some pretty wild suggestions were set forth. But eventually various groups of people really got to the heart of the matter.

Nowadays some of us tend to limit good manners to such surface gestures as Please and Thank You. Actually, people to people behavior goes much deeper, right down to basic attitudes of kindness and fairness. At least 6,000 years ago, some of our thoughtful ancestors put the whole thing in a nutshell. When in doubt, a person should behave in the manner that he or she would like to have others behave.

This is, of course, the Golden Rule which says "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." Maybe you think this was invented by your particular religion. Actually the same Golden Rule was stated in all the mayor religions of ancient times. There is no reason to change it or try to improve it.

Sad to say, some people still seem to prefer the pre civilized era of bad manners. The world will be a much nicer place when all of them step up in favor of kindness and courtesy to one and all. When that great day arrives, nobody will be insulted or left out sad nobody would think of starting a fight. Nobody will grab or cheat. What's more, everybody will be much too polite to mess up the planet Earth, which is our mutual home in the heavens.