Social Etiquette

Is your behavior hurting businesses?

By Arden / April 7, 2018 /

My husband and I visited family in Philadelphia and one of the places we explored was Reading Terminal. It’s a pretty famous tourist attraction with a variety of food and mercantile vendors. When we were looking at some of the goods we noticed many of the vendors had signs that said “No photos.” We thought…

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14 annoying habits that are driving your coworkers crazy

By Arden / February 21, 2018 /

When I worked for Washington Mutual many years ago, there were a few weeks where I was working on several big, deadline-driven projects and I was pretty stressed. The days ticked by while I toiled away on the assignments. One day a coworker who sat next to me asked if I was okay. Turns out…

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The ups and downs of umbrella etiquette

By Arden / January 13, 2018 /

This is a guest post by Eric Mamroth, husband to Arden Clise and regular umbrella user. Perhaps there is no better indicator of a changing Seattle than the proliferation of … umbrellas. Big ones, small ones, cheap ones or expensively fashionable, they are seemingly everywhere now. Clearly our Seattle City Council has left yet another…

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People's hands holding wine glasses that they are clinking

Six tips for hosting memorable parties

By Arden / November 1, 2017 /

Well, I guess it’s official; the holidays are just around the corner. I received my first December holiday party invitation the day before Halloween. I don’t blame the sender; the holidays are getting busier and busier and if you have any hope of having people attend your soiree you need to send the invitation out…

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Do you practice these eight social niceties?

By Arden / August 23, 2017 /

We’ve all heard the saying “You don’t know what you don’t know.” I’m reminded of this quote often when people share with me their etiquette annoyances or faux pas stories. So often a person’s misstep is simply due to not knowing that their behavior is inappropriate. Or they aren’t aware of the proper way to…

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The message determines the medium: Dos and don’ts for event invitations

By Arden / August 4, 2017 /

There are so many ways we can communicate with people – email, text, social media, instant message, phone calls and mailed notes. It can be confusing knowing what medium to use for event invitations. Just recently a friend received a birthday party invitation via a group text message. She thought it was a little odd…

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Eight graduation dos and don’ts for grads, family and friends

By Arden / May 25, 2017 /

It’s cap and gown time; that wonderful time when high school and college students graduate and move on to their next adventure. It’s an exciting time. But graduation can also be a bit of an etiquette minefield. I certainly made some mistakes with my own graduation and have made etiquette faux pas with other people’s…

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Please stop interrupting me!

By Arden / April 6, 2017 /

“Wait, let me finish . . . what I was trying to say is interrupting other people is rude.” When you interrupt someone it says to the person talking that what you have to say is more important than what they are sharing. It shows disregard for the person and what they are saying.

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What George Washington knew about etiquette

By Arden / March 24, 2017 /

The concept of etiquette and civility has been around for a very long time. I recently finished a novel called “Rules of Civility” that included mention of George Washington’s Rules of Civility & Decent Behaviour in Company and Conversation. Apparently, at age 16, young George (yes, eventual first president of the United States) copied by…

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The year of kindness: Join me on a kindness journey

By Arden / January 6, 2017 /

Kindness is showing love to someone else. I believe that kindness is the cure for violence and hatred around the world. Lady Gaga The January 1st Parade magazine edition had an article about making 2017 the year of being kind and included the lovely quote above by Lady Gaga. According to the article, studies have…

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