Last year, when my roommates and I were stuck with each other for the holidays, one of them made a startling accusation over dinner: According to her, I hold my fork wrong. Like most of us, I think, I learned my table manners from my family rather than through any kind of formalized etiquette classes. … Read more
The adage is that “children should be seen and not heard.” Yet these days, it seems as if there are plenty of people who would prefer that children disappear entirely from public places, such as airplanes and restaurants. A recent viral tweet demonstrates exactly that. On Nov. 25, user @AbortionChat posted on X (formerly Twitter) … Read more
Grocery shopping is a rather mundane errand for most of us, but that’s no excuse for behaving rudely and ignoring others as you browse the aisles. “Shopping in the grocery store can be a full-contact sport if you happen to be running errands at a busy time,” said Jodi R.R. Smith, president of Mannersmith Etiquette … Read more
The menu of a Blue Ridge, Georgia, restaurant, the Toccoa Riverside, has recently gone viral — and it has nothing to do with the food that they serve. Tucked beneath the descriptions and prices for a variety of steaks, seafood, pastas and salads, printed just above the Wi-Fi network name and password, comes an ominous … Read more
There are few things you can count on in life aside from dying, paying taxes and, at some point, having to apologize for some boneheaded thing you did (or maybe many, many boneheaded things). But nailing a genuine “I’m sorry” is often anything but easy. There are numerous ways to veer off course, drag in … Read more
Working in a clothing store may mean putting up with a lot of abuse. “Oftentimes, customers don’t much think of you as a person, so much as they see you as a faceless helper,” said Mike Saad, who worked in a clothing store for eight years. It can be difficult for retail workers to keep … Read more
There are a few ways that I perennially disappoint myself as a parent. Getting the library books returned on time is one of them. Another is thank-you notes. My intention every year is to keep a master list of which birthday gifts my children received and who gave them, hunt down each family’s physical address, … Read more
Most of us generally want to put our best foot forward when we’re interacting with other people. But we should keep the same ethos in mind with other people’s pets as well. Rude behavior toward someone else’s pet may not only lead to conflict with that person ― it can also be a safety risk. … Read more
Maybe your steak was undercooked, or your soup came out ice cold. Regardless of the culinary faux pas, it can feel rude to send back food when you’re at a restaurant. Shengxin Sun was a server and manager at restaurants for a decade in Columbia, Missouri, and has endured the full spectrum of reactions when … Read more
When someone mispronounces your name or calls you by a different one, piping up to correct them can feel impossible. Do you interrupt the flow of conversation and address them in the moment? Or do you wait until later? Harvard-trained etiquette expert Sara Jane Ho prides herself on making uncomfortable situations like this feel manageable. … Read more