Etiquette Friday – Good Manners can be things we don’t do

It’s Friday and the day I request you join me in my campaign for 2012 to change “Casual Friday” to “Etiquette Friday”, to get people and companies involved. If we consciously make an effort every Friday then hopefully it will become a habit every day. I challenge you to make one small change a week and by the end of the year let’s hope we have a more pleasant and positive society.

Sometimes, good manners can be the things we don’t do.

Being observant about other people’s needs; not cutting people up in a traffic queue or barging past people when in a hurry, can be good manners. When we don’t jump a queue; don’t shout on the mobile; don’t speak loudly in public or interrupt people who are talking; don’t talk with a full mouth or put our elbows on the table at meal times, this can all be showing good manners.

Not Losing Our Patience

Being patient when people are slower than ourselves or not walking in the way when people have a pushchair or wheelchair. Being patient in queues can help us to be more fulfilled in life and generally make us feel good as well.

Feeling out of Sorts

We can often feel “not quite right” e.g. feeling sick, stressed, had a bad journey to work, but if we use good manners, we can make a special effort to be more pleasant and smile at everyone. Making the effort to look happy can actually result in you genuinely feeling more cheerful yourself!

Good manners, showing respect and behaving in a way that is socially acceptable can help you to have a better relationship with people.