Whatever your race, sex, or educational background, good manners are universally important. Join Mike Farris, Chairman and General Counsel of Home School Legal Defense Association, as he talks about etiquette with expert June Hines Moore.
Michael Farris:
June, why is it important to know the rules of etiquette? Isn’t simple politeness enough?
June Hines Moore:
Well, that’s the place to start, is to be polite and considerate. But if you don’t know the rules, then you’re not going to make yourself look good; you’re going to look as though you either aren’t polite or you don’t care.
For instance, if you don’t know that you’re not supposed to interrupt someone, then you may not mean to be disrespectful, but it’s going to come out that way. So you want to practice rules of etiquette to make a good impression—not a false, egotistical impression—I don’t mean that—but a good impression. For instance, if we put used silverware back on a nice tablecloth, we’ve done that without thinking. And iced tea stains, so the iced tea spoon leaves this horrible stain on the hostess’s tablecloth. She’s not going to say anything, but after you leave, every time she sees that stain, she’s going to think about you.
So I don’t want to put fear into people. I don’t want them to be so uptight because they don’t know the rules. I just want them to be more aware and even to read, whether it’s my book or someone else’s book, to know what they’re supposed to do.
