Pffft! People no longer have ANY manners, apparently.

When I was about ten, I was invited to a birthday dinner at a
restaurant with a friend's family. There were six other child-guests.
Throughout the dinner, I spoke politely to the parents as well as the
child guest of honor; I said "please" and "thank you" to the waitstaff;
I folded my napkin in my lap; I wiped my mouth with my napkin. All in
all, I behaved as I was brought up. The other kids, however, were
completely clueless and acted accordingly. The hosting parents
commented repeatedly on my excellent table manners, and frowned
repeatedly at the other children who wiped their mouths on their
sleeves, drank soup directly from their bowls, shoved food in theitr
mouths like they were starving, etc. This was thirty-odd years ago.

As far as guests not showing...when my husband and I married ten years
ago, we sent out invites clearly stating to RSVP. I made it clear to
all who were invited to the reception that we really needed a head
count, because I was doing the catering myself, and we were on a tight
budget and needed actual numbers. We invited 70 people; 12 actually
showed. I ended up with an entire multi-tier wedding cake, four huge
platters of cold cuts, and large amounts of other leftovers -- not to
mention the fact that we wasted all that money. Not ONE of the people
who had said they'd show and then didn't bother even called at the last
minute. Not one of them even contacted us later to apologize.

It never ceases to amaze me how rude people are these days.

~Eri in TX