Comfort Comes To Call

The way I am around my little brother is the way I should be around everyone.
If I wasn't so guarded/thinking too much/cautious/embarassed all the time.
I need to work on standing up for myself. I did it yesterday a little bit, looking people in the eye when they do annoying things like blabbering loudly on the phone--when did cursing become okay in front of kids, women, strangers? And then there was a guy on the plane showing his buddies behind me a picture of a guy giving the finger. When did this become okay?
I can't help but feeling old-fashioned. I can't believe the 2000s are my time. I belong to a time where candies cost a penny, a sturdy pair of shoes cost $1, men took off their hats as women walked by, and friends and acquaintances "came to call" in the afternoons. Then again, I also belong to a time where the internet connects diverse networks, you can have sushi for lunch and In-n-Out for dinner, refrigeration and washers and dryers abound, and women are pilots, doctors, and police officers. I can never truly call myself a liberal or a conservative, but I do so wish that some of the social graces of yore were more alive now.