Etiquette: Work It
NAME: Lily
Topic: Etiquette
Glee: Cool spring nights
Peeve: Cicadas
In New York, maybe it’s S.O.P. — standard operating procedure — to let the door fall closed on any random member of the female gender because you can’t be bothered. But that ain’t how we play down South, brother. You say “thank you” and “ma’am” and you speak when spoken to. You would think that would be a fairly simple lesson any simpleton could easily pick up.
You would be mistaken.
Did You know?In Tibet it is considered good manners to stick out your tongue at someone. source
"Manners are a sensitive awareness of the feelings of others. If you have that awareness, you have good manners, no matter what fork you use." -Emily Post Quote
Allow me to explain: We have a new manager at work whom I’ll call “S” for short (and for “Satan”). I’m not saying I don’t like the guy, I’m saying I loathe him with the white-hot intensity of a thousand burning suns. He has the sort of natural charisma that makes dogs and children run in the other direction and curdles the milk before it’s even left the cow.
So, naturally I report directly to him.
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Ten Etiquettte Rules for Children from Oprah.com.
He doesn’t ask me to do anything. He tells me. Usually with a scowl on his face, and sometimes with a condescending, “Do you think you can handle that, sweetheart?”
Oh, I can handle it. I can handle it right up your… Okay, hold it. If I go there I’ll be stooping to his level, and that is something I refuse to do. My mama raised me right, even if his mama didn’t do the same for him. Though I can’t imagine he was raised in anything approximating a normal family environment. I would suggest he was raised by wolves but why sully the good name of perfectly innocent wolves?
He never says “please.” He never says “thank you.” He rarely speaks when I see him in the hallway. The only thing making this situation bearable is my co-workers, who all share the same high opinion of S. We’ve decided the only thing we can do — short of clipping out Miss Manners columns and stapling them to his forehead — is to kill him with kindness and hope some of it rubs off.
We’re going to out-sweet him.
And, I hope in my case, outlast him.
Q: Helen, what are the two most offensive etiquette mistakes that
a person can make that are most certain to end relationships?
Find the answer to this and our top ten Etiquette questions here!
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