One of the most intriguing subjects nowadays is good manners. Unfortunately this is because the society we live in dictates some rules. These rules, sometimes unwritten, must be obeyed. Occasionally, new trends, some more weird or incorrect than others, come up, and we start to follow them without noticing.

A few years ago I was looking for a book about good manners. We’re not born with them, only if you’re a member of a royal family, and you have them running in your veins, although they are probably teaching you and you practice since you’re a baby! I couldn’t find one at the time so I started looking for one in my parents’ library, hoping to get a glimpse of the old forgotten good manners of faded time.

After thoroughly searching, I found a small little book, maximum 50 pages of large font text. I was however happy that I found something to help me enrich my general culture, although there were many ideas that seemed outdated.

My belief is that there should be a dictionary of good manners out there for us all, and this should also be a subject in schools so that future would not have the same lacuna in knowledge. It is vital to know how we should behave well in society, the current one not the one that was 100 years ago!
This is a very ample subject, that could also be a study case, as it is much needed.
Searching the internet in the hope that I would find more information related to this topic, I discovered a book by Aurelia Marinescu – The etiquette of good manners. You can find it in Carturaresti shop stores or even online, one of the websites I came across is called www.bunele-maniere.com.

I dare you to make a list with good manners as we, women, see them nowadays. I will be the first one to scribble some ideas and I hope you’ll continue the list so that it can spread on the internet and more people can benefit from it.

1. A mannered person doesn’t drink and does not talk with food in the mouth
2. First one to step in the restaurant is the man
3. A lady should never smoke while walking on the street
4. Always remove the price tag from the gift before offering it

5. If you’re the one receiving the gift, it is always polite to open it in front of the person who had offered it

6. Whenever we yawn, cough or sneeze, we must cover our mouth with our hand

7. A woman with good family upbringing will never put her elbows on the table
8. Use very often the important words: please and thank you
9. Respect everyone, no matter what their social class is

10. In the restaurant, the man must help the woman with the chair and only after he can sit down

11. If you invite a person out to have a meal, you must pay the whole bill
12. When we greet or toast, we must smile and make eye contact
13. If we’re too far or it’s too noisy to salute we must then tilt your head
14. You only portion the food on your plate to take one bite at a time
15. Do not push the plate after you had finished eating, let the waiter come and collect it

16. Do not blow in your coffee or tea of they’re too hot, wait until they’ve cooled
17. When walking down the street accompanying a woman, the man must be on the side closer to the pavement edge
18. It is not polite to interrupt the person you’re talking to

19. When traveling by bus or other mean of transport, passengers who want to get off will be the first and only after there will be others getting on

20. Choose an outfit that shows respect to the interlocutor
21. When you first meet someone, shake hands in a proper way, firmly, not too weak but not too harsh either
22. E cigarette shouldn’t not be used in your office as it confuses the others and might be considered a break
23. It is rude to pay more attention to your mobile phone than the person you’ve met
24. When a woman gets out or in the car, the man will open the door for her
25. Too much of a perfume is a lack of respect for the people who accompany us

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We must always know how to behave in different social situations and most importantly, we must consider the others. Actually, having good manners means paying attention to details, to our behaviour and to people who stand next to us.

Education and good manners will always be fashionable!

Dearfully,