Filed under: Daily Life | Tags: car, driving, manners, road, test, thank you, thanking
Now, as some of you may know (if you’ve read the driving etiquette section on the site) I didn’t pass my first driving test as I was ‘too polite’ (I thanked three people in my test and thus removing my hand from the wheel – three times equals a major so I failed 
– ho hum). Anyway, the other day I was driving down a country lane, which was fairly narrow and could only just fit two cars down if one stopped. A car was driving towards me, so I pulled over to let them pass, as I was in no particular rush. The other driver was a lady of about, I’m guessing, fifty. She looked quite respectable. However, as I let her pass she blanked me totally and didn’t thank me or even acknowledge my existence, despite my good deed. Then, the next day,0 I did the same for a man and he did exactly the same as the woman.
So, this annoyed me. I was discussing it with a friend and they said that the same happens to them. It must be, surely, I reasoned, because we are young and older generation think all young drivers are boy-racers and therefore deserve no respect. How wrong can they be.
On Friday I appeared on the E4 programme ‘Big Brother’s Little Brother’ to talk about the manners and etiquette (or lack it!) in the Big Brother house.
Now in its ninth series, many people in the UK wonder why the Channel 4 bosses re-commission the series year-after-year. Whilst it may, in parts, be puerile reality viewing, if you scratch the surface a bit deeper what you actually have is an experiment in human behavior and social interaction; manners cannot be more relevant when people are put in groups (after all, manners are all about putting people at ease/respect for each other – there is no selfishness in manners or etiquette).
Whilst I was there to highlight pretty obvious areas of bad manners and etiquette, there are some examples of very good manners and civility. Take, for example, the way Rachel comforted Kat after the latter failed to complete a task. Kat was worried it was all her fault (which it wasn’t) so Rachel began to reassure her and to PUT HER AT EASE! It was a very touching moment…well, I thought so, anyway.
Filed under: Daily Life | Tags: cash, credit crunch, economy, money, restuarant, tip, tipping, waiter
Whilst watching breakfast television this morning, they trailed a feature on tipping etiquette in the today’s credit crunch climate. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to see the feature as I had to leave the house to go to work but it’s got me thinking. What is the correct protocol for tipping when a recession is more than likely and we Brits are tightening up our purse strings?
Traditionally, when giving a tip in a restaurant, to a taxi driver or hairdresser, one should give 10%. Therefore, if you paid £100, you give £10 (I’m not giving you a more complex example as I was hopeless at maths at school and I can’t find a calculator).
So, what should we give now that the economy is on the down? After much thought, I have concluded it should, for now, be a personal, case-by-case decision. So, if you’ve just won the lottery then the normal 10 per cent is best whereas if you are really struggling then maybe taking it down to seven or eight per cent would be more economically friendly. It’s up to you. That’s my verdict, anyway.
Filed under: Media | Tags: bbc, doctor who, grandstand, itv, jackanory, strictly come dancing, television, tv
Strictly Come Dancing, Doctor Who, Jackanory, Mr and Mrs, Bill and Ben, To the Manor Born…can you spot a pattern? They are all shows that have made a return to television in the last few years; they were all shows my parents watched in their youth. I could list many more programmes that have been reawakened, tweaked slightly but, in essence, are exactly the same as they used to be. Am I the only one who has noticed that media executives are bringing back the old favourites?
Why are they though? In my opinion, I suggest that perhaps all these new programmes have run along for a few years but haven’t proved as popular as the old show they were trying to emulate. For example, Grandstand: the BBC took that off air and replaced it with ‘Inside Sport’, which means it instantly loses any reputation and gravitas Grandstand had and then has to rebuild and establish a reputation of its own. Give it six years and Grandstand will return. In my opinion, these media-types are re-lighting the old flames of programmes for two reasons. Firstly, they’ve run out of new ideas, so some bright spark a few years ago suggested they bring back the old shows but give them a 21st Century revamp…for example, Come Dancing had the world ‘Strictly’ slapped on to it (although it was at first going to be ‘Celebrity’, I’m told). Secondly, and perhaps the same open-necked-shirted-media-type-bright-spark knew this when he suggested it, the old programmes are actually much better in most cases.
And this, I think, is reflective of society, and perhaps the old values and traditions are more beneficial to us. I see this everyday with manners, and people’s reactions. Whilst some may consider manners and etiquette to be out-dated and irrelevant, they don’t realise that all of the ‘rules’ haven’t just been devised overnight; they have been road-tested and developed over centuries. Shunning manners is nothing new, it’s been done before, and, hopefully, like with television, some bright young spark will suggest that we all revert to being civil to one another…or has someone already started to do that…?!
Filed under: Sport | Tags: british, federer, football, nadal, royal, Sport, tennis, wimbledon
If we didn’t watch it, we certainly have heard about it: Nadal’s rather audacious victory parade after his first win at Wimbledon on Sunday. After a gruelling five hour match, the Spanish tennis player jumped on to the siding and clambered up to see his family, and then, walked on top of the commentary booth to reach the Royal box where he greeted Spanish dignitaries (bypassing other royals that were present).
This has certainly shocked some. Whilst Nadal is the consummate professional (as is R. Federer) his diversion from protocol has raised a few eyebrows. Was it ‘bad’? Was it a nice surprise after the long match? Should future players be penalised for unplanned outbursts? (Even if they have just won £750,000.)
The British are famously known to be reserved and (allegedly) well mannered. Critics are asking how a British player may have reacted in a similar circumstance. Well, we could sit here and argue this hypothetical situation until we’re blue in the face. Personally, I think that the ecstasy of the moment rather got to the Spaniard, which prompted his break with Wimbledon (and indeed sporting) etiquette. In the past, there have been occasions when I have been delighted with an achievement, award, situation, etc., and have been known to jump around in the street (although it was a very quiet street and I did check who was around…!). Nadal should be let off and it’s not the most heinous crime and elsewhere on or off the court his behaviour has been highly commendable.
Yet this raises the issue of other sportsmen’s behaviour – I shall mention no names, I could type for hours. Sportsmen are role models and young children, especially with football, emulate their celebrations, hairstyles, mannerisms and the like. It is perhaps time for a little more restraint to be taken by our sportsmen, where both winning and losing are taken graciously and ceremoniously. Football is often referred to as ‘the beautiful game’…which is probably the most out-dated expression and needs reviewing, or at least being given to another sport. The pendulum (like with a lot of modern life) perhaps needs to swing back to the more dignified and under-stated, although occasional outbursts – rightly timed – can be a treat for others. In the Nadal case, he perhaps just about got away with it. If he wins again next year though, perhaps a little more dignity, please Mr Nadal?
