Happy Monday, everyone! We want to start your week off right with a question from our print editors. They want to know: What has been your favorite random act of kindness that you’ve either given, received, or witnessed recently? Share your stories in the comments below, and we’ll share a selection of them in an upcoming issue! And if you […]
more about: etiquette
Show Some Respect: Be Polite to the President?
Woodrow Wilson was the president who invented the formal press conference—and immediately was regretted it, according to a story we read recently on CNN. After newspapers printed rumors of Wilson’s daughter’s romantic liaisons, the president declared: ”This must stop! On the next offense, I shall do what any other indignant father would do. I will punch the man who prints it […]
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‘Why Is Job Hunting So Dehumanizing?’
Here’s the question Fran Hopkins asks in a column on AOL: “How have I gotten to the point in this process where I expect to be treated like a piece of meat and accept it? “There’s very little human interaction in the job-application process,” Hopkins writes. “You email your resume to hiring@abcfirm.com or painstakingly complete a time-consuming, excruciatingly detailed online […]
World-Class Manners for Olympians (and Spectators)
Spotted recently in the Chicago Tribune: a guide, on the eve of the Summer Olympics, to understanding (and emulating) “all the customs, quirks and idiosyncrasies” of British etiquette: 1. Greetings. A firm handshake is welcome. Other forms of touching, less so. “Social kissing is, however, becoming increasingly popular in Britain, but it is by no means an accepted norm,” writes […]
So What if You Never Answer the Phone?
On the bulletin board behind my computer in the office, I have tacked up a New Yorker cartoon by Alex Gregory. It’s two guys in business attire sitting at bar, and one is saying to the other, “I used to call people, then I got into e-mailing, then texting, and now I just ignore everyone.” Here’s the link, if you […]
Engagement Party: “No Gifts, Please”
A reader named Claudia writes, “I have been invited to an engagement party and the invitation states ‘no gifts, your presence is our gift.’ Do I go without something, or what would be appropriate to take?” It is never required to take a gift to an engagement party, which traditionally is an occasion for both sides of the family and […]
Smooching and Groping in Public
“I have a long-term friend, a 50-year-old bachelor who just started dating a girl, who is nearly 50. When I visit them, they frequently start making out and clawing at each other, sometimes even sharing the same spot on the couch with her on top of him,” writes a reader named SocialB. SocialB finds the behavior disgusting: “I have to leave […]
Your Cousin’s Grandchildren are Beautiful. Period.
This week’s question comes from KidSundance, who is worried about what to say at an upcoming family reunion if shown a photo of a cousin’s grandchildren: “I am white. I am not a racist, and am very open-minded about race, race relations, etc. “So, please understand that this is a question about etiquette in which, as always, my concern is for […]
