How to Impress Your Friends and Dates with Good Etiquette

Do you know, some of the most basic rules of etiquette and good manners are lost these days. I guess I'm a bit old fashioned in insisting that my children follow these rules. Also, it is unfortunate that having these rules instilled in them seems to make them less attractive to the general masses of teenagers. Now, I'm not suggesting that my kids act perfect all the time, of course they do there fair share of trash talking and such. But usually, my sons will instinctively open a door for a lady and my daughter will smile graciously and say thank you when someone at church tells her how well she sings.

How to act you were not raised by wolves:

Dining out

*Fellas, open the door for a lady. Ladies, walk a little slower so your fella can get ahead of you and open the door for you. Ladies say "thank you". Fellas say "my pleasure."

*When being seated, at an expensive restaurant, a maitre de will often hold out lady's chair for her, otherwise fella should do it.

*Ladies, don't act like a militant feminist and get all offended by your date acting like a gentleman. They are not treating you as helpless women, but rather as respected women.

*When dining out, fellas stand up when a lady joins the table, whether it is your date, your mother, or another guest.

*Ladies, when eating, keep your legs together and both feet on the floor. Napkin and one hand on your lap.

*Politely excuse yourself when leaving the table.

Phone etiquette

*The caller....Say "hello" or "good morning/afternoon/evening". Introduce yourself "This is Auntie Mo". Politely ask to speak with someone "May I please speak to President Bush?" If the party is there, say "thank you". If the party is not there politely ask to leave a message, including name and number, or offer to call back at a later time.

*The callee....respond with "hello" or "good morning/afternoon/evening." Offer a grating "Hello Auntie Mo". If the party is you: "This is President Bush." If the caller is home "yes, just a moment please". If the caller is busy or not home "I'm sorry President Bush can't come to the phone right now, can he call you back?"

*Turn down the radio or TV while talking on the phone.

*Don't eat while talking on the phone.

*Don't scream at the kids or hold a conversation with someone else while talking on the phone.

*If you must sneeze or cough, excuse yourself and hold the phone away.

In general:

*Fellas can help a lady on with her coat or jacket. To do this, fellas need to hold the jacket down and move the jacket so that she can put her hands in the sleeves. He then gently slides the jacket up and rests it on her shoulders.

*If a lady knows that a fella will help her with her jacket, she can offer it to him, holding it by the collar and turning around.

*A lady can also open a door for her mother or grandmother if there is no fella around.

*When walking, fellas should walk on the side with the traffic.

Offering condolences:

*To offer sympathies "I'm very sorry to hear about John Doe's passing, he was a very kind/generous/sweet man."

*To accept sympathies "Thank you. He would be glad to know you thought so highly of him" or "Thank you, he often spoke highly of you as well."

Things to remember:

*Use manners all the time. In other words, don't treat strangers better than you treat your family and friends.

*Don't continually remark on someone's good manners. A simple compliment once will suffice "You have such nice manners". Constantly marveling at someone's good manners will make them uncomfortable.

*Fellas, your lady fair doesn't want to be treated as your equal. She wants to be treated much better than you.

I'm not Emily Post, but these little tips should get you through.

This article was previously published at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-od1VIs8zfrW7N.YbQeIIrCtX5rg-?cq=1&p=418 with the title "Good Manners" under the name of Mo The Treehugger.