DINING ETIQUETTE

DINING ETIQUETTE

What is etiquette?  It's a system of rules and conventions that regulate social and professional behavior. The whole point of the rules of etiquette is to make you feel comfortable, not uncomfortable.  When there are standards that people abide by, then you can have the confidence and assurance that you are acting accordingly.  It takes the guesswork out of your behavior in public.  There is no penalty for bad etiquette, but the result of bad etiquette lies in the disapproval of one's peers. 

General Banquet Etiquette:

1. Please turn off your cell phone. If you absolutely have to have your cell phone turned on, put it on vibrate mode. Under NO circumstance should you place, or receive, a call while dining. The same goes for text messaging. You never want to give anyone the idea that the person on the phone is more important than the person sitting in front of you. If there is no way to avoid making or receiving a call, excuse yourself from the table and take your call outside of the dining room.

2. If you arrive at the table before anyone else does, do not begin eating the bread, crudites or any pre-set food, such as appetizers, until everyone else has arrived and is seated.

3. Greet your co-diners with a smile and possibly a hand shake. Once everyone is seated at the table, the first thing you will do is place your napkin on your lap.  Unfold the napkin with as little fanfare as possible. Fold it in half and place it on your lap.

4. Please, no smoking at the table.

5. Practice good posture. If you are not eating, place your hands in your lap, or you may also rest your wrists on the edge of the table.  Never put your elbows on the table.

6. Never blow your nose at the table, especially into your napkin.  If a sneeze is unavoidable, try to grab a tissue, or remove yourself from the room.  Remember to wash your hands.  It is proper etiquette to avoid sharing germs.

7. If you cough, cover your mouth with your napkin to stop the spread of germs and to muffle the noise.  If you need to, excuse yourself to the restroom, and always wash your hands.

8. Ladies purses should not be placed on the table.  If they're small enough, you can place them on your lap.  If they're large, set them on the floor under to your chair.  Try to avoid having them out in the aisle where they can possibly trip someone.

9. Briefcases and meeting materials should also be placed on the floor under your chair.

10. You may begin to eat when everyone has been served in a fine dining situation. You may begin to eat when the host/hostess picks up their fork to eat.  Do not start before this unless the host/hostess insists that you start eating.

11. You should not ask to taste someone else's food, nor should you offer a taste of your food to someone else.  If you absolutely cannot resist this rule, you can request a small plate from your server and place a small amount of food to share.

12. In a fine dining restaurant is impolite to ask for a doggy bag. It is more acceptable if this is an informal dining situation.

13. Never chew gum at the table.  If you need to remove the gum from your mouth, excuse yourself to the restroom where you can dispose of it.

14. Combing or brushing your hair at the table is unacceptable.  As is putting on lipstick or make-up.  Excuse yourself to the restroom to take care of this.

15. Is it proper to pull the chair out for a lady?  For a business meeting or meal, no.  For a social occasion, i.e., wedding or date, yes.

16. When you have finished eating your meal, do not push your plate aside or stack them on top of each other. It is proper to leave the plate sitting where they are currently.  Let the service personnel do their job.

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EMAIL ETIQUETTE

EMAIL ETIQUETTE

SOME DO'S
1. DO include a heading in the subject line. With the number of emails and viruses that populate inboxes,  realize the significance of the subject line. A subject header is essential if you want someone to read your message.

2. DO make the subject line meaningful. A “Hi” or “Hello” won’t do. The recipient decides in which order to read your message- or whether to read it all- based on who sent it and what it’s about.

3. DO personalize your message to the recipient. Although email is informal, it still requires a personal greeting, such as, “Dear Ms. Jones,” or “Hi, Jack.” Failure to include a greeting can make your message seem cold.

4. DO account for tone. When you communicate in person, more than 90% of your message is non verbal. Email has no tell-tale body language! The reader cannot see your face or hear the tone of your voice, so choose your words carefully and thoughtfully. Think about how your words will come across in cyberspace.

5. DO look at your email address and determine how it represents you. Names such as “looselips” don’t sound professional. Students sometimes embarrass themselves by communicating with an employer using an inappropriate address.

6. DO include your name or a signature with additional details and contact information. The recipient may want to communicate by means other than email.

SOME DON"TS
1. DON’T forget to check for spelling and grammar. If you think this form of communication does not have to be letter perfect, think again! It represents you. Poorly written messages may indicate a poor caliber of work in other ways. Use proper capitalization, punctuation and usage, and always check your spelling.

2. DON’T write the great American novel. Email is intended to be a brief communication. Keep the message short and concise. Use only a few, brief paragraphs.

3. DON’T forward email without permission. Why take responsibility for passing along something that was addressed only to you? Often, confidential information becomes global because of someone’s lack of judgement. Unless you were asked to forward something, don’t do so without permission!

4. DON’T “reply to all” unless you are sending a response appropriate for group viewing.

5. DON’T fill in the “TO” line until you’ve written and proofed/edited your message. Is the information accurate? Grammatically correct? In an appropriate tone? If you enter the “TO” information first, a slip of the finger can send a message before its time!

6. DON’T think that no one but the intended recipient will see your email. After a message leaves your mailbox, you have no idea where it may go. Don’t use the Internet to send anything that you wouldn’t want to see in public or hear about at the office
water cooler.

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Ten Commandments of cell phone etiquette

Ten Commandments of cell phone etiquette

There comes a time in any technological revolution when some basic guidelines need to be laid down. It happened when e-mail exploded on the scene and people started to learn some basic dos and don'ts around the new medium.…There are some real abuses of wireless technology being perpetrated all around us, and the time has come to create some social order out of the cell phone chaos…so think of this as the first Ten

Commandments of cell phone etiquette, with amendments to follow:

1. Thou shalt not subject defenseless others to cell phone conversations. When people cannot escape the banality of your conversation, such as on the bus, in a cab, on a grounded airplane, or at the dinner table, you should spare them. People around you should have the option of not listening. If they don't, you shouldn't be babbling.

2. Thou shalt not set thy ringer to play La Cucaracha every time thy phone rings. Or Beethoven's Fifth, or the Bee Gees, or any other annoying melody. Is it not enough that phones go off every other second? Now we have to listen to synthesized nonsense?

3. Thou shalt turn thy cell phone off during public performances. I'm not even sure this one needs to be said, but given the repeated violations of this heretofore unwritten law, I felt compelled to include it.

4. Thou shalt not wear more than two wireless devices on thy belt. This hasn't become a big problem yet. But with plenty of techno-jockeys sporting pagers and phones, Batman-esque utility belts are sure to follow.

5. Thou shalt not dial while driving. In all seriousness, this madness has to stop. There are enough people in the world who have problems mastering vehicles and phones individually. Put them together and we have a serious health hazard on our hands.

6. Thou shalt not wear thy earpiece when thou art not on thy phone. This is not unlike being on the phone and carrying on another conversation with someone who is physically in your presence. No one knows if you are here or there.…

7. Thou shalt not speak louder on thy cell phone than thou would on any other phone. These things have incredibly sensitive microphones, and it's gotten to the point where I can tell if someone is calling me from a cell because of the way they are talking, not how it sounds. If your signal cuts out, speaking louder won't help, unless the person is actually within earshot.

8. Thou shalt not grow too attached to thy cell phone. For obvious reasons, a dependency on constant communication is not healthy. At work, go nuts. At home, give it a rest.

9. Thou shalt not attempt to impress with thy cell phone. Not only is using a cell phone no longer impressive in any way (unless it's one of those really cool new phones with the space age design), when it is used for that reason, said user can be immediately identified as a neophyte and a poseur.

10. Thou shalt not slam thy cell phone down on a restaurant table just in case it rings. This is not the Old West, and you are not a gunslinger sitting down to a game of poker in the saloon. Could you please be a little less conspicuous? If it rings, you'll hear it just as well if it's in your coat pocket or clipped on your belt.

Most of these seem like common sense to me, but they all get broken every day.

Source:    http://www.infoworld.com/articles/op/xml/00/05/26/000526opwireless.html

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