Etiquette 101 (Anders Jacobsen's blog)

July 30, 2002

Etiquette 101

Ah...! Finally someone writes an "Etiquette 101 for modern people"-article... Some very quotable advice in here:

On airplanes, the people with books or headphones are using them to avoid interaction. Please do not attempt to draw these people into conversation by using their social shields as conversational bait for your opening line. ‘Hey, great book!’ or ‘What are you listening to?’ are utterances properly met with tight-lipped smiles.

When I fly I read a book and I wear headphones. Don't disturb unless the engines just caught fire or unless you're offering me a glass of fine Chianti ;-) ...oh... I also lean my seat as far back as it goes. That's probably not polite, but heck...

It’s not polite to push your beliefs on others unless you’re holding a picket sign large enough to give fair warning that they should avoid you. In this spirit, one does not properly discuss the population explosion at the mention of a friend’s pregnancy, and one does not inform a lunch partner of ‘exactly how much fat is in that’ or the process by which the meat came to be on his or her plate.

I hate when someone mentions fat when we eat a good dinner. Don't!