For many years Emily Post, who lived 50 years ago, has been the leading source of what behavior is socially correct, and what behavior isn’t. Emily Post said: “Good manners reflect something from inside – an innate sense of consideration for others and respect for self.”
Good manners and etiquette boil down to the Golden Rule: treat others like you’d want them to treat you. It means being honest, trustworthy, kind, and polite when working with others.
The digital age has changed the landscape of business, personal life, and social life. It’s no wonder that it has also had a great effect on etiquette. If you think you have forgotten some social etiquette here some reminders.
Easy Everyday Common Courtesies We All Need to Show
- Do you take up more than one space when you park? Do you block the aisle with your shopping cart?
- Why are you honking your horn?
- Did you interrupt somebody while they were speaking?
- These seem like small annoyances, but they’re not- they show that you not only are not considering others, but that you really only care about yourself and your own opinions
Cell Phone Etiquette.
When it’s annoying to you when others do it it’s just as annoying when you do it!
- Don’t have a loud conversation in the checkout line. The whole world does not care what you’re having for dinner tonight or who’s picking your kids up. It comes across as rude and inconsiderate.
- Don’t use your phone during religious services of any kind, including funerals and weddings.
- At a restaurant or a dinner party, relax, talk, and enjoy the food and the company.
- Don’t take out your phone at office meetings unless you need to for the meeting. Put your phone on silent!
- Even worse is when you’re having a conversation on speaker. Now everybody else has to listen to both sides of a conversation they don’t care about!
- As a general rule, try to avoid frequently checking your phone, especially when you’re talking to someone. It sends the message that they’re not important to you.
Be courteous and kind…especially to people in the service industry.
- How you treat others and your actions affect how people view you. Being thoughtful and thinking of others will never go out of style.
- When you are kind and have good manners, treat others as you would like to be treated, and make other people feel good about themselves, other people want to be around you.
- Examples- foods server, flight attendant, – they are working for you, not against you! They’re not being rude when they don’t or can’t do every single thing you want them to do! Treat them the way you’d want yourself or your kids to be treated!
Lisa Bien is a motivational speaker and coach whose column appears twice a month on Woman Around Town. For more information on Lisa, go to her website.
Top photo: Bigstock
