ENJOY THE REST OF SUMMER

Since many seems to be minding their manners. We're going to take advantage and go mine some more etiquette tips.

WHAT CAN YOU SAY TO A TOOTH PICKER?

 

            Not much. The other day I was facing a woman in a restaurant. No problem with that, she had her table and I had mine. It was a pretty nice place and I was looking forward to a quiet lunch.

            All was going well until I looked up from my smoked salmon and noticed that the woman was busy picking her teeth with a toothpick (Either she brought her own or asked because there were none on the table.)

            What a dreadful sight to behold. She was just diggin’ a way. I guess she didn’t consider going to the restroom to really get down to business.

The expression of Her Majesty demonstrates brilliantly how I feel about the picking of teeth in public.

            There’s nothing to say to someone who uses toothpicks at a table, unless you know them well, very well.  Now, if a particle of the woman’s lunch came flying over to my table, I wouldn’t hesitate to say, “Excuse me, Miss, a piece of your lunch is now on mine. I wish you wouldn’t do that at the table.”  Maybe I should lose the last part? Or maybe the part about the piece of lunch?

            Oh, I don’t know what I would say.  I give up on public tooth picking pickers.           

           

JITNEY JITTERS By Yvonne

I’ve been spending some time on the Hampton Jitney and I’ve seen some disturbing behavior.

What is about the Jitney that makes people so ill mannered?  The pretzels? Is the juice not up to their liking?

One woman could barely get a thank you out of her mouth. When asked if she’d like water, she answered, “Make it two.”  No “please”, no “thank you”. Her daughter’s made herself comfortable with her feet on the seat; the soles of her flip-flops were filthy.  Note to self – no white jeans on the Jitney. The attendant came through a couple of times with a trash bag, you wouldn’t have known for all the empty bottles, newspapers, and wrappers she and her daughter left behind.

On another trip, I sat across the aisle from a father and son. The father was dressed casually chic, the son quietly focused on his iPad.  When they got off the bus, the mess they left behind, was, well, a mess. (See photo)  I shudder to think of what their housekeeper meets every time she walks into their home.

Could it be that it’s the least expensive of all the coaches in the Jitney family that makes people forget their manners? Do they have them in the first place?

I don’t think so, I think it’s about people who are used to having others pick up their mess without ever expressing gratitude or appreciation. It’s enough to give you the jitters.