Maintain Good Manners in All
Things
In her wonderful book Watching the English,* Kate Fox
observes that in any small transaction, like buying a newspa-
per, there will be around three pleases and two
thank-yous—and that’s a minimum. We have to interact with a
whole host of people every day, and a little politeness has to be
a good thing. The Rules Player maintains good manners in all
things. And if you don’t know what good manners are, then
we are in trouble.
Yo u ’ r e p r o b a b l y t h i n k i n g t h a t y o u h a v e g o o d m a n n e r s a l r e a d y.
Most of us believe we do. However, the more you hurry and
the more stress you are under, the more manners are likely to
slip. All of us, if we’re honest, will admit to forgetting to prop-
erly express gratitude for something when frazzled by life or
feeling a huge temptation to push in front of somebody old
when rushing to catch a bus.
However rushed and fraught you are (and following the Rules
should make you less so), you should always make the effort
to show these good manners:
- Lining up without pushing
- Complimenting people when you need to (and when they
deserve it—no use throwing compliments around if they
aren’t justified and earned) - Not sticking your nose in where it isn’t wanted
- Wa t c h i n g t h e E n g l i s h : T h e H i d d e n R u l e s o f E n g l i s h B e h a v i o u r by Kate Fox
(Hodder & Stoughton, 2004).