I ride the Red Line on Washington’s Metrorail system every day to work. Usually it’s not so bad, but lately I seem to be seated right near folks who are just plain breaking the rules: drinking drinks, eating sandwiches, all that—not to mention the typical rude behaviors like cell phone gabbing, loud, tinny, earbuds. But […]
Category: Etiquette
All about etiquette.
1924: The New Year’s Resolution
I hope you had a happy holiday. I’ve survived Christmas week, with a whirlwind trip to Buffalo, Baltimore, Mineral and then Gainesville, Virginia, to visit family… though it was good to see everyone I’m happy to be back home after all that roadtripping. I thought I would bring in the New Year with a quote […]
1924: Road Courtesy
I must be having a mid-life crisis. I became obsessed with a car (yes, a car) and just had to have it. So, traded in my trusty 2001 VW Golf (a moment of silence please) and negotiated a pretty good deal on a silver Madza3 hatchback. So now that I’m out on the road with […]
1936: Are You as Polite at Home as Outside?
As we get closer to Thanksgiving, and the holiday season in general, I thought it might be time for a reminder about courtesy in the home. Many of us will be in close quarters with our extended family for hours and perhaps days on end, and more than ever it will be important to be […]
1926: Hotel Etiquette
The recent trip had a few memorable hotel-related incidents: room mixups due to a reservation booked by one of our party for the wrong night (and subsequent cancellation by the hotel), accusations by an angry Spanish hotel clerk of possible orgies (long, long story there, and JUST NOT TRUE!), and extra fees for air conditioning […]
1923: Classroom Manners
Sharpen your pencils, plug in your keyboards – it’s back to school time! To bring in the new year, I was going to share with you something from Gael Greene’s Sex and the College Girl, but it seemed a bit too scholarly for this crowd, with all those statistics about young virgins and loose girls. […]
1937: How to Eat an Artichoke
Every year (for the last 8 or 9 years) I jointly host an artichoke party (yes, really) with friends Art and Lucille. We order the ‘chokes from Pezzini Farms in Castroville, California and gorge with friends and family for hours on end. The big event was yesterday. Loads of fun, as usual. The early years […]
1957: At the Movies
I still like the social aspect of seeing movies at the theater. But with high prices at the ticket booth (what ever happened to the cheap matinee?) and the popcorn line, annoying pre-show advertisements and cheesy dancing candies on the screen, it’s getting harder and harder to justify it. And it doesn’t help that movie […]
1932: Manners to Books
Digging through an unorganized pile of some of my books, I found one I’d forgotten I had, titled Mr. Manners: A Manual of Good Manners, by Rose Henniker Heaton. It was published in 1932 by Burns Oates & Washbourne, London. The title page continues: “for Good Children, together with AWFUL EXAMPLES of WILD MANNERS and […]
1880: Advice for the Senate Judiciary Committee
My hope is to occasionally use this space to share some short excerpts from the advice books, taking clues from the news or personal experiences, or if I just happen to find some fun things to share. To kick it all off, I’ve located some tips that I think the Senate Judiciary Committee may have […]