I was in this much awaited captain’s night dinner on a vacation cruise when I heard a young man seated besides our table sneeze and I felt droplets of water on my neck. When I turned around, I noticed that he used the food menu to cover his sneezing and not the napkin underneath the menu. I was disappointed but then realized that not every one of us was taught manners.
Our parents always teach us whenever humanly possible about different kinds of manners. Our job is to apply them because if you do not do so, other people will think that you were not raised well by your parents.
My friends colleague was given a dramatic salary increase because she was the only one standing up when the boss enters the conference room for meetings. She was noticed and promoted because she had manners.
I’ve read a book a few months back called “The Book of Family Manners” by Hermine Hartley. Here are some of what most of our parents taught us combined with the book that I read for a refresher course on life manners.
1. When visiting someone else’s home and your kid accidentally breaks something, offer to pay or replace the item. When your child doesn’t want the food in the hosts house, at least take a few mouthfuls. It is rude not to do so.
2. When eating, do not forget the basics! Chew with your mouth close. Eat with a fork unless the food is meant to be eaten with fingers. Only babies eat with fingers and last but not the least, always remember to say thank you to the one who served you. Do not say rude things even if you saw some foreign object in your food like insects or hairs.
3. When invited in a party, always follow the R.S.V.P. in the invitation and confirm prior the said event. Plenty of us disregard that and it just defeats the purpose of it. You will also make it harder for the host to estimate the numbers.
4. Parents should be good examples because the children will imitate it. Manners are taught at home and not in school. Always say please, thank you and sorry.
5. Always be considerate to others like when in the subway. Offer
your seat to the pregnant woman or elderly person. Do not contradict your
spouse in public as your kids will do this to you. Remember the golden rule? Do
unto other what you want others to do unto you. You can read that and more on
Luke 6:30-36.
Manners should not be a task. It should be a daily lifestyle activity like eating, walking and praying. In doggy world, having manners will mean that you are a good breed and your "papers" will have stars on it. This will show others that your parents are good parents and they have taught you well. Let this be a reminder to everyone who forgets that manners are still important even though you are have achieved high, a multi-billionaire or just a commoner like most of us. Let us do this in return to what our parents had done to us and to reflect God’s attitude. Are you constantly aware of your manners?
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