George Fleetwood and Phil Shore got the ball (and the world) rolling for us. Rebecca Redding introduced our guests: Victor Dau, with Owen George; Nikki Wingate with Elizabeth Mitchell; Esteban Delgado, of Peru, with PDG Bob Newton; and Ann Grey, with husband Sandy Grey (wearing identical red Davidson shirts, to support the home team in the NCAAs). From other clubs we welcomed PDG Bob Newton, with the Greensboro club; and Maggie Stevens, with the Randolph Club.
President HR expressed the club’s sympathy to Randolph and Asheboro Rotarians Ben Morgan, Ed Bunch, and Bob Wilhoit, three lawyer amigos, who have all lost their mothers over the past month.
Tar Wheel History: January 24, 1945, regarding the lemon drought in the aftermath of a musician who performed for the club and found a dollar bill in a lemon.
Richard Garkalns introduced our program, his wife Susan Garkalns. Richard says he met Susan in 1953, and they’ve been together mostly ever since. Susan has both a BS in Clothing and Textiles and an MBA from UNCG; she is a “Family and Consumer Science Agent” for the NC Cooperative Extension agency here. She arrives to speak to us on “Communication Etiquette.” No sooner does she stand than does Richard get a cell phone call, which we all decide is a setup to illustrate the point of her talk. “Etiquette,” a/k/a Common Courtesy or Good Manners, seemed to die off as a topic of actual education long about the 1970s, but is making a recent comeback. Emily Post’s Etiquette is now in its 17th edition, and has been completely revised by Emily’s Great-Grandson’s wife Peggy Post.
Etiquette is a code of behavior based on thoughtfulness, says Susan. Manners aren’t for the benefit of the person who has them, but for the people who don’t– so we don’t shoot the bus drivers who cut us off, or brawl in restaurants. Etiquette is the art of taking the unfamiliar and making it familiar, and there are different types for different professions and situations. There is Courtroom Etiquette, for example; and Golf Etiquette. Nowadays, we’re developing things like Email Etiquette, and Cell Phone and Voice Mail Etiquette.
For example, we forget that in email there is actually a real person on the other end. Begin and end your emails formally, like a real letter. Be sure and always add a subject line, and make it subject specific. If there is no subject identified, anyone should treat it like an unwanted virus. Don’t designate your email as urgent or high priority if it isn’t. Use that sparingly. DON’T TYPE IN ALL CAPS. That is rude- like shouting. And remember, email isn’t private- treat it like a public document. Don’t Reply All unless you really want everyone on the mailing list to see what you’ve written.
Voicemail: Briefly! outline the purpose of your call. Request a response if necessary. Provide call back information SLOWLY. Repeat it as a courtesy.
Cell Phone: The people you are WITH should take precedence over the one on the phone. Let voice mail take the call if you’re in meetings- church- ceremonies- dinners- movies- concerts. Set your phone to VIBRATE. Speak in a regular conversational tone, or use text messaging.
Susan ended by quoting Peggy Post: “Rudeness is the Number One issue facing this country.”
In question time, Kathy Homiller pointed out that we should recognize cultural differences in polite behavior: in Asian countries, for example, it is considered disrespectful to look someone in the eye.
President HR ended by asking the injured Jim Culberson if he had any valuable points on Skiing Etiquette to share. Nope!
