A gentleman may enter a room knowing no one, yet he should never leave someone else standing in it feeling invisible. The introduction is a modest social duty, but a revealing one. It calls for attention, memory and a willingness to take the awkwardness upon yourself so that two other people need not carry it. […]
Our grandparents did not need a seminar to teach a child to stand aside for an older neighbour, write a thank-you note or look someone in the eye when speaking. They understood that courtesy was a habit to be practised until it became part of one’s character. The rules were not always perfect, but the […]
A gentleman should be able to sit down to dinner without consulting a diagram beneath the tablecloth. He should know the essentials of a place setting, speak courteously to staff and understand that good manners exist for the comfort of those around him. Few people will remember his choice of fork. They will remember if […]
There is a man who treats an invitation as a compliment, and another who treats it as a service. The first is welcome again. The second is remembered for all the wrong reasons. Being a gracious guest requires neither grand gestures nor expensive gifts. It requires the modest discipline of remembering that someone has made […]