ETIQUETTE... Giveaway!
Awhile ago I did a post called, "Let's Bring Back." Several of you commented about etiquette and good manners, ie; opening the door for people, giving up your seat for an elderly person, and being neighborly. I thought it would be fun to have a giveaway about etiquette.
Here is how the giveaway works:
Starting today, you simply enter by leaving a comment about what customs, manners or traditions you'd like to bring back or change.
Limited to one entry per person. Help me spread the news about the giveaway by mentioning it on your own blog and you'll get a second chance to enter. Simply enter a second comment alerting me of the mention.
See the prizes below...
FIRST PRIZE: But of course, two vintage books on etiquette. One is titled, Book of Etiquette, copyright 1921. This book covers everything from entertaining, house servants and tipping, to travel and hotel etiquette. The second book is titled, Good Manners, copyright 1934. This covers young people who wish to be correct, as well as polite!
SECOND PRIZE: What is etiquette without the lost art of letter writing? This winner receives a G. Lalo writing tablet with matching envelopes. G. Lalo, the Parisian social stationery manufacturer since 1919, provides the royal courts of Europe with handcrafted stationery. Two aspects of G. Lalo stationery contribute to its fame: the quality of its papers and the elegance of its presentation.
The entries can be made until Wednesday, May 13th at 9:00 pm PST. The winners will be picked via Random.org on Thursday, May 14th, and announced on this blog. I will contact the winners for your mailing addresses. Please provide a valid e-mail address or link to one.
{I'll start with my comment here...hope I don't offend any of you .... Let's have cell phones not allowed in restaurants or shops. I am so tired of having a meal out, only to have the person seated next to me speaking loudly on their phone about their date last night. Please people, step outside of the restaurant, shop or post office!}
The giveaway is now closed. Thanks for your comments. Results tomorrow!
Comments
http://fab.typepad.com/brunette
I wish folks would curb their cell phone usage in public -- waiting rooms, grocery checkout, restaurants, etc.) How often I see someone checking out at the store, talking on the phone the ENTIRE TIME -- so rude to the cashier, as if she/he does not even exist.
I've eaten an entire meal at a resturant only to have the person at the next table talk on her c-phone the entire we were there (approx. 45 minutes!).
And no offense to those of you out there who use these, but for me, the epitomy of this is the little bluetooth earpiece thingy that people wear. As if they chose to be born with their cell coming out of their head. Can nothing wait until you are in the proper environment to talk? We live in such an "urgent" society now -- but we're actually preferring the "urgent" over the IMPORTANT most times, I fear.
Okay, well this was MORE than you bargained for. So, I vote that cell phone manners be brought up quite a few notches. :)
(THANKS FOR LISTENING YOU GUYS!)
Ruth
mmm... where to start... first to respect always older people like our grandparents or simply people who you know have lived a lot more than you.
I have a book of etiquette from 1940 and it has a funny chapter about the use of gloves in ladies and gentleman.
I'm going to say this because today is so common but my dad's age is 77 and he always tells me that when he was young, people use to dress a little bit formal, now its so common to go to theaters or out on Sundays with anything we found in our closet...
xoxo
Judith~
xox's
I totally agree about the cell phones and the thank you notes and the pleases/thank you's too.
I think that people have forgotten the golden rule, don't be so quick to judge and treat others as you would like to be treated!
The fact that you see parents teaching their children manners is always refreshing but I don't see it a lot anymore which is sad.
I think it's an excellent idea. A return to good etiquette is long overdue in our society in my opinion.
I think the very practice just honors a concept that "I see you are there, and I value you as a human being," which is so very lost today in almost every etiquette transgression there is going.
And while we're at it remove the word "conversate" which is not a word, insteado f ocnversing, converse at al.
And follow through when you promise to return a phone call or having it on your voice mail.
Learn not to ask very personal or intrusive questions & getting offended when one chooses not to answer it.
Lastly dressing appropiately for an event. Nothing worse then seeing a woman very dressed and male companion in t-shirt & jeans going to a wedding, funeral, a restaurant. Or women dressing more appropiately for a strip joint then work unless she works in a strip joint.
Excellent idea!
Hmmm, manners now a days are just not how they used to be. The men now maybe debonair and suave, but it isn't the way we are thinking. Go back to the era of where men were true gentlemen. Car door opened for you,chairs pulled away for you to sit down and men would stand up as you left and came back to the table.. The early eras were classy and filled with proper etiquette. There was no cell phones in stores, people spaking so loud you can't even hear yourself think. There wasn't cursing and people so much in a hurry they run you off the road. When do you hear please and thank you anymore?? There just isn't repect now a days. I would like to see proper table manners, no elbows , no reaching and grabbing for food as though you haven't eaten for days....come on people. Where were the days when you were wined and dined, insted it's wam, bam, thank you maam. I mean what kind of women wants that. It would be nice to bring back etiquette the way it used to be.
Thank you,
Mickela
mickeladucharme@hotmail.com
I must say one thing in particular that I am a stickler for is written thank yous. To receive a handwritten note of gratitude is a dying art. E-mails just don't cut it. And people that cannot even ackowledge receipt of a gift that a person took their time, effort, thought and money to get are just lame.
Manners will never be out of style...
Nathalie
Not putting elbows on the table - so as not to take the space from a person seating next to you. Opening the door for someone - so as he/she didn't have to put forth an effort. Introducing ourselves to a newcomer to a party - so as he/she will not feel excluded from conversation.
Or like the H.M. Queen of England, behave as if you're not scandalized by the lack of manners and terrible breach of proper etiquette in one of your lady-guests who were so rude as to appear hugging the Royal Person.
I could go on and on. . .
Michelle
Carla
cpullum(at)yahoo(dot)com
Lisa
There is so much to say about how we interact and the need for nice manners, but I will just add this for a start: I'd love it if we would take a moment and acknowledge everyone we come into contact with. How awesome our days could be if we looked people in the eyes, took a breath, and spread some kindness around.
If I could bring back one aspect of bygone good manners into modern life it would have to do with the blatant, incorrect, and over-usage of profanity in our everyday speech.
Now I'm no prude who's saying that no one should ever curse about anything, but I think we all can admit that it's gotten way too prevalent. Cursing is now common in business meetings, out of the mouths of children, and as a substitute for basic adjectives. And in doing so, frankly, it has lost its edge.
People don't construct witty zingers anymore (like Mae West or Bette Davis did) to lance their enemies - instead we all use the same stack of four letter words. How boring!
And I've noticed only a dwindling few people who will apologize for cursing inappropriately in mixed company.
And don't get me started on people who flatly demand to curse in public - as if they were defending the first ammendment!
This is such a fantastic post! I love the ideas everyone posted thus far, and I will add one that means a lot to me...
I wish people would show better manners when driving a car. When I began reading about all the traffic fatalities right here in SF due to people not paying attention to pedestrians, it got me thinking. What if we all slowed down when we drive, stay off the phone (including those ear wires) and focus on what's on the road?
We could avoid hitting someone we didn't "see" because our mind was someplace else.
We could motion to someone to go ahead of us -- either to change lanes or to back out of a driveway or to take a parking space we both want.
We could nod and SMILE our appreciation when someone lets us pass a double-parked car in our lane.
And, most of all, we could slow down and stop as we get to a yellow light, instead of racing thru the yellow (or red) and scaring the heck out of everyone else!
After I nearly got sideswiped by somone who ran a red light about a year ago, I have a new attitude about the basics of driving, whether it's courtesy/etiquette or safety we call it.
I play a game with myself to look for opportunities to let a driver to go ahead of me when it's actually my right of way -- turning left at a 4-way stop, waiting to pass a double-parked UPS truck, moving over a lane on the freeway to make it easier for someone to merge. It sounds silly but the idea of doing something so small that can make a total stranger have a better day ends up making me happier.
Cheers to Lynn for coming up with this idea! Oh what is that great old saying? "Better to light a candle than to curse the darkness!" You have sparked a discussion that can spread far and wide.
Can't wait to see who wins your wonderful giveaway. Thanks, Lynn!
Joan
Lisa & Alfie