How Rude!!!

A Teen-ager’s Guide to Etiquette

(for the new millennium)

A humorous yet practical guide to good manners & social skills

• family life

• behavior in public

• manners in school

• eating

• clothes

Minding Manners

Nobody’s Polite Anymore. Why Should I Be?

Find out things you’ve wondered:

• Why put napkin in LAP when food falls on shirt?

• How to tell someone they have spinach on their teeth.

• How much to tip the pizza guy?

• Why be nice to people we don’t like?

• Why follow these ridiculous rules?

Learn how to:

• deal with idiots

• react to bigoted remarks

• respond to adults who make rude comments

• tell someone his fly is open

• be the perfect host so your parents will beg you to have more friends over

Know just what to do when:

• people spread nasty rumors about you

• a dog nuzzles at your crotch in public

• two of your friends aren’t talking

• your aunt gives you your 6th set of hankies

• a friend pressures you to take drugs

Discover:

• 14 Commandments of Toiletiquette

• best way to ask someone out

• surefire strategies for getting invited back

• secrets for dressing for tactical advantage

• effective ways to put rude people in their places

• proper techniques for spitting, scratching, yawning, coughing, nose & zit picking

Be prepared to:

• ace a job interview

• impress admissions officers when applying to schools

• broach touchy subjects in a relationship

• respond to teachers who pick on you in class

Why Good Manners Are Good For You

• Put people at ease

• Impress people & make them feel good

• Build self esteem & make you feel good

• Are attractive and rare

• Avoid unnecessary friction

• Save your life

• Cost nothing!!!

Difference between “manners” and “etiquette:”

Manners-customs and traditions of a society that govern how people treat one another and behave in

social situations.

Etiquette-sets of rules that give expression to manners-can vary

from culture to culture.

Brief History of Manners

• date back to 9000 B.C. when hunter/gatherers became agricultural

• meals became communal and required rituals

• 2500 B.C. first known etiquette scroll

• eating with fingers evolved to eating with forks to filing points from table knives

“Gems” (early etiquette books):• When you blow you nose or cough, turn

round so nothing falls on the table.• Refrain from falling upon the dish like a

swine while eating, snorting disgustingly and smacking the lips.

• Do not move back and forth in your chair as it gives the impression of trying to break wind.

• Don’t peer into your handkerchief as if pearls and rubies might have fallen from your head.

Aren’t Manners Sexist?

“Aren’t manners just for snobs and rich people?”

Why not just act natural?

• violence• chaos• no games or athletics• no driving• fear and insecurity• RULES actually create

personal freedom

Isn’t it what’s inside a person that counts?

Certainly, but nobody will stick around long enough to know the real you if your presence grosses

them out!!!

Top Good Manners (via parents and teachers)

• Say “please” and “thank-you.”• Write thank-you notes.• Clean up after yourself.• Don’t interrupt; listen when others speak.• Look people in eye; give firm handshake.• Use good table manners.• Respect others and yourself.• Use good telephone manners

Manner waivers granted:

• Too young to know better

• Physical or mental illness limitations

• Emergency responders

• Crime victims

• When alone and unobserved

• Group agrees to “suspend” manners.

Why Don’t People Have Manners Anymore?

• Politeness seen as sign of weakness.• Media promotes rudeness.• Gender role confusion.• Importance of openness and individuality.• Today’s stressful lifestyles.• America’s cultural diversity.• Relaxation of social mores.• Loss of respect for authority.

Manners Quiz

• You’re excused from having good manners as long as…

• If kids are rude, it’s because…

• Parents can best teach their children good manners by…

• It’s okay to be rude back if...