My Memoirs - Citizen of the World

was mandatory in high school to attend a special class for Moral
and Civic Education. I remember the teacher of that particular
class showing us the proper way to wipe our nose, to fold our
handkerchief before putting it back in our pocket for good hygiene
purposes; how to use silverware and the proper way to sit at a
table, and to never wear a hat at the table, especially as a guest in
someone’s home. These were the signs of good manners that
today, even in Portugal, sadly are seldom followed.
Respect is so important to the Portuguese people that it is even
found in our language. Unfortunately, even in our language, the
intention of respect is often ignored. There is a difference, for
example, between the meaning of an English expression and word
and its usage in the two different languages, especially in the part
of the USA with a predominant population of Portuguese
extraction. As an example, the English personal pronoun, “you”, in
Portuguese has two very distinct meanings. When addressing a
friend, you say “tu”, but when addressing an elderly person or
someone you don’t know well, you must never use “tu”; it is
considered to be very rude and impolite. One should always say “o
senhor” or “vocè”. That is good etiquette and good manners.
Today, children often call their parents by “tu” in Portuguese,
which when I was growing up was considered to be impolite, rude,
and unacceptable. There are other ways where language is used to
illustrate respect. The word “education” in English, for example,
is used to mean an academic education and for the nice manner in
which people present themselves. In Portuguese, we have two
different words: “instrução” refers to school education, but
“educação”, implies that a person has good manners and behavior,
not necessarily with a good academic background.
When I was a young boy, I was very hyper, always up to
something and never standing still. I was known by my peers to be
somewhat of a troublemaker. Many times I was punished by my
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