Don’t Forget To Smile
As we approach the season where large groups of people some related to each other are packed into small rooms to be festive, perhaps a review of basic manners would be in order. The main thing about manners is that they aren’t so much a set of rules as a way of behaving so you make as many people comfortable as possible. If you’re worried about the small stuff, according to Men’s Health magazine here’s all you need to know:
Use the silverware from the outside in.
Keep the tablecloth clean.
Be quiet and don’t interrupt.
Let them out before you try to get in.
Show deference to women and those older than you.
Smile from time to time.
That’s it. Everything else is just style.
Thinking ahead: We applaud anyone who appreciates the small moments in a romance.
A fashion article in GQ magazine offers an example of what could be a moment: “When you put the duffle coat on, it doesn’t hug your ribs like a short, blue-haired aunt. With echoes of a military cloak, it hangs straight from the shoulders, lending you its warmth, its storm-tested character, its crisp shape. You can fit a hardcover copy of “Crime and Punishment” in one pocket and a woman’s hand and your own in the other. … There is something deeply gratifying in that.”
A minority opinion: In the wake of the Million Woman March last month, a report says minority women are less likely than white women to rise to corporate managerial positions, with black women the most under-represented group in management. The report by Catalyst, a nonprofit group that studies women in business, “counters the perception that being a member of two minority groups (women and an ethnic minority group) gives one an advantage.”
Think about it: Time magazine’s report on the au pair trial reactions offered this ironic observation - “No doubt many of the people jamming the airwaves condemning (Deborah) Eappen for going to work and leaving a small child at home are the same ones demanding that welfare mothers do exactly that. There oughta be a law, folks clamored, and now there is: the 1995 Welfare Reform Act, which requires welfare mothers get a job, any job - cleaning houses, flipping burgers, or, most ironic, watching other people’s children - or lose benefits.”
Going beyond turkey: Is anyone else tempted every year to try out a new recipe on Thanksgiving Day, knowing the dish will be met with a chilly reception? Is there a graceful way to sneak a new item onto the menu without incurring a riot at the dinner table?
, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo
MEMO: Susan English is the Weekend Editor at The Spokesman-Review, contact her by mail at 999 W. Riverside, Spokane, WA 99201; by e-mail at susane@spokesman.com or by phone at 459-5488.