Names (Etiquette p. 52)
Kids have been leading unhappy lives based upon their parents peculiar name choices. Unusual, odd, oddly spelled, weak names have wreaked havoc on societies’ youth, and later our adults. Suffice it to say; if you have been burdoned or blessed with bestowing a name upon new member of our society, please start them off on the right foot. No Kaaba, Deryth, Aron with one A, Niki with one K, Hepzibeh or any other names that may have been fine in their previous form but have now been altered by the addition of prefix such as D’, Sha, or suffixs such as neenee. Its cute and unique to your family at home, but not to the rest of us, and certainly not for the school child who will only be given a harder path to travel……..
The Question of Etiquette
A friend recently loaned me “New American Etiquette” (edited by Lily Haxworth Wallace in 1941). She thought I would be amused at the vintage guides quirk’s and politically incorrect faux pas. She was right, I am.
However, as I am reading this book cover-to-cover, as I too often do with encyclopediesque (?) reference books, I am struck by a simple question. In oh-so-modern 2009, what has happened to our manners? Based on the guide from 1941, etiquette’s sole purpose is to act kindly to people, and make everyone at ease. Essentially following the “Golden Rule”. Hmmm… wouldn’t that be nice to see in practice. Life is great, but at times can also be quite unpleasant. Wouldn’t it be helpful to go back to this antiquated notion of being considerate to others?
Hello world!
Hello World!
Too often in life we find ourselves faced with questions, meant only for the purpose of basic manners, just people being polite.
If you’ve got it together, and are also in manner mode, they don’t even faze you. It’s a conversation that you can have without thinking, kind of like driving (yeah, I know how that sounds). You know what I mean. You’re “Unconsciously Competent”. You’re so used to it, it comes as second nature.
However, for those of us who have recently had the rug pulled out from under us, whose reality has just been flipped on its rear end, with its feet dangling limp in the air like a heavily sedated dog… you get the point. Well I am one of those people (I bet you had already guessed that, huh?)
Cheers! Here’s to having no idea what I’m doing, but trying to do it as gracefully as possible!
