I recently attended a conference at one of the big hotels in downtown Phoenix. We had nice plated breakfast and lunches, lots of snacks at break time and great sessions to attend.
Here's something I discovered at the conference. A lot of people out there have absolutely no manners anymore. Somewhere along the way we've forgotten how to act at the dinner table. I'm not sure if this is because no one cooks anymore or we've just gotten lazy, but I was taken aback by some of the behvior I witnessed. And it takes quite a lot to shock me.
One guy grabbed a roll from the bread basket and began eating without asking if anyone else cared for one. He didn't bother to pass the basket around the table until prompted. Another guy ate my salad by mistake and I was too polite to tell him. One man picked his teeth at the table. This would have been bad enough if he did it with a toothpick, but this guy used his fingernail instead. When another man placed his dessert on top of the dirty lunch plate and started eating his apple pie, I knew I'd had enough. I politely excused myself from the table. Not a single man stood up when I left, which is a dining etiquette rule they had apparently never learned.
I gained some valuable insight that day. Manners do matter and create lasting impressions. I wish we'd start using them more often.
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