Hello all,
Have you ever heard of the phrase "etiquette faux pas (pronounced- fo pah)? It is a phrase used to describe an embarrassing social blunder in etiquette and manners. I think the phrase sounds too kind and a little upity so I don't use that phrase. Instead, I use the phrase "etiquette blooper". And since I have taught so many children and college students it goes over well with them. To them, etiquette blooper means, "Hey, I really messed up with my manners."
I saw the biggest etiquette blooper a few months ago. It was jaw dropping! I was in the Wal Mart (we don't have a Target here) parking lot in my car and a professionally dressed middle aged woman pulled into the parking space directly in front of me so that we were looking straight at one another. She started getting something out of her purse and it looked like a toothbrush. I thought to myself, "Is that a toothbrush? Is she going to brush her teeth in the car?" Then, yes, she started to do just that except she didn't just stay in her car. Here's the jaw dropping part. She got out of her car while brushing her teeth, opened the trunk to get something all while brushing her teeth and then SPIT EVERYTHING that was in her mouth out onto the parking lot pavement! How gross! Has she no shame? She knew I saw every move!
I am not a person that condems others because they make etiquette bloopers. WE all make etiquette bloopers and most of us try to do what we need to do to correct them but this was a blooper if I ever saw one. In fact, I have NEVER seen anyone do something as tacky and distasteful as this! Now how's that for a blooper!!???
What about you? What are some etiquette bloopers you have seen (or have made)? I would love to hear your thoughts.
Friday, March 12, 2010
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
I'm finally blogging!
Hello,
My name is Lydia Allison. Please call me Ms. Lydia. I am very excited to be blogging and some of my good friends have encouraged me to blog about my life as an etiquette instructor and etiquette and manners in general. In 2001 I was substituting at my childrens' schools and I kept hearing several teachers talk about the need for someone in town to teach "these kids" some manners and etiquette.
I loved teaching and wanted to do more than be a substitute teacher for the rest of my life so I started brainstorming and coming up with creative and fun ways to teach kids manners and etiquette. I had the best time being creative and writing the curriculum- just trying to find fun ways to help kids understand the importance of being polite and courteous throughout their life and carrying those skills into their adulthood. After putting together my curriculum, I started asking parents if they were interested in having their children enroll in my classes. I started teaching girls ages 8-11 and right off, had enrolled 8 girls for my summer class. Shortly thereafter, parents of boys came to me and asked me to put together a curriculum for their boys! After this, my classes started to take off.
Word spread throughout my small community and pretty soon, I had parents calling and people from the nearby universities asking for help in training their students. Since I loved teaching the little ones, I created a curriculum for ages 4-7 called "Manners 4 Mini's". I love that name and this has been one of my most popular classes. I have found that parents really want to start their kids learning manners when they are young and I agree that the earlier, the better.
There are some things that I would like to blog about... in particular, I would like to continue to discuss manners and etiquette in our society today. I would also love to share the story of how me and my family were asked to be on a Reality TV show called "Wife Swap". Oh, I know you are probably saying,"What is a woman who goes to church and teaches manners and etiquette doing on a show called Wife Swap ?", and I intend on telling you the whole neat story plus a lot of inside information about being on the show. I am also going to be sharing about my family, parenting challenges and how it feels to almost be an empty nester. So, stay tuned. Thanks for reading and God bless you!
Kindest Regards,
Ms. Lydia
My name is Lydia Allison. Please call me Ms. Lydia. I am very excited to be blogging and some of my good friends have encouraged me to blog about my life as an etiquette instructor and etiquette and manners in general. In 2001 I was substituting at my childrens' schools and I kept hearing several teachers talk about the need for someone in town to teach "these kids" some manners and etiquette.
I loved teaching and wanted to do more than be a substitute teacher for the rest of my life so I started brainstorming and coming up with creative and fun ways to teach kids manners and etiquette. I had the best time being creative and writing the curriculum- just trying to find fun ways to help kids understand the importance of being polite and courteous throughout their life and carrying those skills into their adulthood. After putting together my curriculum, I started asking parents if they were interested in having their children enroll in my classes. I started teaching girls ages 8-11 and right off, had enrolled 8 girls for my summer class. Shortly thereafter, parents of boys came to me and asked me to put together a curriculum for their boys! After this, my classes started to take off.
Word spread throughout my small community and pretty soon, I had parents calling and people from the nearby universities asking for help in training their students. Since I loved teaching the little ones, I created a curriculum for ages 4-7 called "Manners 4 Mini's". I love that name and this has been one of my most popular classes. I have found that parents really want to start their kids learning manners when they are young and I agree that the earlier, the better.
There are some things that I would like to blog about... in particular, I would like to continue to discuss manners and etiquette in our society today. I would also love to share the story of how me and my family were asked to be on a Reality TV show called "Wife Swap". Oh, I know you are probably saying,"What is a woman who goes to church and teaches manners and etiquette doing on a show called Wife Swap ?", and I intend on telling you the whole neat story plus a lot of inside information about being on the show. I am also going to be sharing about my family, parenting challenges and how it feels to almost be an empty nester. So, stay tuned. Thanks for reading and God bless you!
Kindest Regards,
Ms. Lydia
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
