Episode 518 - and Dr.
Your Awesome Etiquette podcast episode for the week. Plus your weekly etiquette challenge, the Monday joke, and an etiquette extra on back to school respect
On today’s show, we take your questions on how to address a doctor on a wedding invitation, inviting widows to an anniversary party, and refusing a host’s offer of food and drink. For Community Members, your question of the week is about what to do when you can’t understand someone through their accent. Plus, your weekly challenge, etiquette salute, and a postscript segment on new wedding and baby shower etiquette.
Etiquette extra - Back to School Respect
Back to School conjures up an image: Rows of desks or groups of students seated at tables and a teacher standing near them, greeting them, introducing them to their new year. And we like to think of some other people whose work is also just starting:
The bus driver picking up a group of students at the bus stop.
An aide meeting her special needs student.
The school chef and cafeteria staff planning meals and prepping options.
A custodian wiping the last particles of dust from the hall window sill. (She may have been working all summer!)
The cross walk guard you see every morning and every afternoon.
The school nurse stocking the band aids.
It takes a whole cadre of people to run a school. Each and every one of them deserves the respect of students, parents, and teachers. Reminding kids that as they prepare to see their friends and teachers that there are other school staff that deserve our smiles, consideration and politeness is worth the effort. It’s not only polite but it can brighten someone’s day! Help your kids be the ones to give that gift as they start out the school year, and say "thanks" yourself when you have the opportunity.
Join us in Vermont this fall for our first in-person business etiquette trainer training since 2019!
Weekly Etiquette Challenge
This week’s challenge is to try eating Continental style, where the fork is kept in the left hand, and when the knife is present, the tines are always used down. We’re challenging you with this not because we think it’s the better or more correct way to dine - we teach the American version as well, but instead, because it’s fun to try it out and perhaps learn something a little different. Expand your dining experience horizons and challenge your dexterity. Learn more about Table Manners - Continental Style Dining.
Did we really just post about going back to school? Unbelievable! We hope that the last weeks of summer have you catching long evenings outside and maybe getting to dip your feet in some cool water. As always, thank you for bringing your considerate, honest, and sincere attention to the topic of etiquette. See you Thursday.
All the best,
Lizzie and Dan
Happy-Monday (post-Olympic) Joke
“What do a tick and the Eiffel Tower have in common?”
"They're both Paris sites."