Common Sense and Manners for Those Who Are Missing It.

From Brightside.me Courtesy Common Sense

Courtesy isn’t hard to display — it amounts to respect for both yourself and others. But there are several nuances which only a small number of people seem to know. Bright Side collected a few rules which can make your life (and that of other’s) more pleasant.

1. Never come to visit without a call.


If you’ve ever gotten a surprise visit, you might have been caught off-guard wearing a robe and slippers. One British lady liked to say that when she saw an unexpected guest, she would put shoes on, take a hat, and grab an umbrella. If the person was pleasant, she exclaimed: «Ah well, I just came!». If not, she said: ’Ah, what a pity I should go!’

2. Never dry an umbrella opened — neither in the office nor at someone else’s place.
You should fold it up and either put it on an umbrella stand or hook.

3. Never put a handbag on your lap or your chair.
A small and elegant clutch can be placed on a table. A handbag can be hung on a chair back or put on the floor if there isn’t one (these are offered in some restaurants). A briefcase should be put on the floor.

4. Plastic bags should only be used for going to and from the supermarket, as well as brand bags from boutiques.
Using them as handbags is a bit tacky.

5. Home clothes are pants and a sweater. Comfortable, but tidy.
A robe and sleepwear are meant to get to the bathroom in the morning and from the bathroom to the bedroom in the evening.

6. When a child moves to his/her own room, make it a routine to knock before entering.
Then your child will do the same when entering your bedroom.

7. A woman can wear a hat and gloves indoors.
But not a cap and mittens.

8. The total number of accessories you wear shouldn’t exceed 13, including fashion buttons.
A bracelet is permitted to wear over gloves, but not a ring. The closer to the evening, the more expensive jewellery you should wear. Back in the old day, diamonds were considered an evening adornment for married women only, but nowadays it’s possible to wear them during the day.

9. In terms of ordering in a restaurant, saying ’’I invite you’’ means you pay.
If a woman invites a business partner in a restaurant, she pays. If someone says ’Let’s go to a restaurant,’ that means everyone pays for himself/herself; if a man offers to pay for a woman, she can agree.

10. The person who exits an elavator is the one who is closest to the door.

11. The most prestigious seat in a car is behind a driver.
And it’s for a woman. A man sits next to her, and when he gets out of the car, he holds the door and holds out a hand to the woman. If a man drives, it’s desirable for a woman to take the seat behind. However, wherever a woman sits, a man should open a door for her and help her to get out of a car. In business etiquette, men increasingly break this rule hiding behind a the slogan: ’There are no women or men in business.’

12. To say that you’re on a diet is considered bad manners.
All the more, you cannot refuse food offered by a hospitable hostess hiding behind this excuse. Be sure to praise her cooking talent, even if you haven’t tasted the dish. The same with alcohol. Don’t tell everybody why you can’t drink alcohol, just ask for a glass of white wine and put it to your lips.

13. Taboos for small talk: politics, religion, health, money.
Inappropriate question: ’What a dress! How much did it cost?’ How to respond? Smile and say: ’It’s a gift!’ Change the topic of conversation. If the person insists, say gently: ’I wouldn’t like to talk about it.’

14. Familiarity between people who hardly know each other is forbidden.
Treat the others the way you want them to treat you. Even if you know a person well, in the office you should act as if you were strangers. Yes, the same with your family members. Respect others.

15. Discussing those who are absent, when it is simply gossip, is unacceptable.
You shouldn’t run down your relatives, especially your spouse. If your spouse is so bad, why not to get divorced? It’s also forbidden to express contempt for your native country. ’This country is filled with misers...’ - well then, you’re one of them.

16. In the cinema, theatre, or concert hall, you should go to your seat facing those sitting.

17. It’s better to make a secret of nine things:
Age, wealth, family quarrels, religion, your medical problems, love affairs, gifts, honor and disgrace.
And for the finale, Jack Nicholson about common decency:
’I think much of decency. How to pass a plate. Not to shout from one room to another. Not to break a closed door open without knocking. Let a lady pass. The aim of these endless simple rules is to make a life better. We cannot lead a permanent war with parents — it’s dull. I pay close attention to my manners. It’s not an abstraction, it’s a simple and comprehensible language of mutual respect.’

Monday Morning Smile

Roadrunner, Coyote Rules

If you ever watched Saturday morning cartoons, you will definitely know the famous Wile E. Coyote and Roadrunner. But what you may not know is that creator, Chuck Jones, had 9 sacred rules that he followed for every episode of this show.

King Cake Baby

By punk band Gar Gar Band

RIP, David Bowie

Woke up to the news that David Bowie has passed, succumbing to cancer. He and Freddie are together again. No pressure.

His final album will be released soon. Called Blackstar. Here's a video from it, called "Lazarus".

Monday Morning Smile

Monday Morning Smile

Lost in 2015

I know I'm not the only person who loves the end of each year with an overview of what transpired in the last 12 months. For me it's something that I looked forward to when Tom Brokaw ended his nightly news broadcast with a fast moving slide show of the notables who passed in the past year. Well, Tom's long gone - along with ">Brian Williams


LOCALS FROM WWL

As we prepare to close out 2015, we remember some of the New Orleanians we lost - from musicians and chefs to community leaders, broadcasters & journalists. While no list like this is ever complete, we pay tribute to some of them"> NOLA.com

Hollywood's lost

From CNBC, notable losses

famous deaths in entertainment

From Newsday. (Lillian Vernon died??)

There are probably overlaps here, , but I find it's always good to be sure to include everyone. Here's US Magazines "lost in 2015"


And last and least TV Guide's extensive list , which froze up on me. It has a lot of "I didn't know he/she died!" moments.

Happy New Year, Y'all

Which GOP Candidate is yours?/

Charity at Christmas

December 29, 2015. The talk of Social Media today, a day I'd like to save for memory.

A nurse who works in the billion dollar LSU medical center nearby Charity was leaving work one night recently and saw this light on in Charity. Being smart, she caught a picture of it with her phone camera.

Here are her words:

...I work at an inner city New Orleans hospital that happens to be situated directly across from Charity hospital. Charity hospital has been closed, it's windows darkened, since hurricane Katrina, and is a gloomy and dreary sight on the best of days...at night it's down-right scary. Until tonight.

See, I park on the roof of my parking garage, and tonight as I was leaving work, I glanced over at the forgotten building, only to see the lights of a tiny Christmas tree! I wish the pictures did it justice. I don't know how it's lit. I don't know how it's even in there, but it made me smile just a little bit tonight!

It has been confirmed Charity still has electricity - TEN years after being "shut down".

Here's the answer to the light in the window from the 'big wig' at LSU "WDSU reached out to the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center for comment about the viral images. A spokesperson said it appears the hospital was broken into and the tree, or whatever it is, will be removed."

Later in the day, University Police went into the hospital and removed what turned out to be 2x4s wrapped in lights, officials said.

For those interested in the whole story of why Charity was shut down, here is a link to the story, it's ugly, but true.

Syria

Just a small video which shows some of what the brave Syrian refugees are going through.

Pray for them, please