Enduring crowds is dreadful enough without poor strangers facing the tedium of your appointment scheduling, gossip, or whatever else you’re blabbering on about.
When you pass the salt and pepper, pretend you’re following the first verse of the Cupid Shuffle — to the right, to the right, to the right, to the right.
While placing a spotless linen napkin on the dining table might seem harmless, you’d never get away with it if you were dining with King Charles or the Habsburgs.
So long as your server is checking on your table reasonably frequently, try to avoid calling them over like your yellow lab.
Crazy as it may seem to the old timers, some uncultured swine believe an RSVP is only necessary if you’re going to attend an event. In fact, a “répondez s’il vous plaît”
When you announce your impending restroom visit, you paint mental images that nobody asked for. Announce that you got a promotion. Proclaim that you’re getting married. Keep your journey to the urinal to yourself.
Author Dale Carnegie advises giving genuine compliments to win friends and influence others. A compliment (and thank you) hits way harder when it’s handwritten on personalized stationery.
Back in the day, it was a big deal if the Montagues and the Capulets uttered a bad word about each other. The French and English worked hard not to speak too hostilely