The Politeness Project

Read this article over at Ladies Home Journal

Etiquette - Grace Before Meals

 

I pulled one of the seldom read books from the shelf, Emily Post's Etiquette, copyright 1955.  Since good manners and etiquette never goes out of style, I read with interest Miss Post's section on Grace Before Meals.

"The old-fashioned custom of giving a family blessing or thanks before meals is a very gracious one though unfortunately it is not observed as widely as it used to be.  Some families are seated with bowed heads and touch nothing until the grace has been said; others remain standing--both forms are correct.

Usually the mother or the father offers the prayer, but it is sweet to allow the youngest member of the family or if there are several to let them take turns in asking grace.

There are a number of shorter and longer variations, but he following three are typical examples."

Bless us, O Lord, and these Thy gifts, which we are about to receive from Thy bounty.  Through Christ our Lord.  Amen.


Lift up your hand toward the Sanctuary and bless the Lord.  Blessed art Thou, O Lord our God, King of the universe who bringest forth bread from the earth.  Amen.


Bless, O Lord, this food to our use, and us to Thy service, and make us ever mindful of the needs of others, in Jesus' Name.  Amen.

Source: Etiquette: The Blue Book of Social Usage by Emily Post, 1955.  Published by Funk & Wangalls, New York

Manners

Evann has the ABC's of Manners

The Importance of Manners

I found an interesting blog post regarding "Thank You" and the Chinese culture.

Importance of Manners

The writer claims that in the Chinese culture, there is no "please" or "Thank you".

Now, I find this assertion interesting because I am not sure if he is right or not. I may have to ask my Chinese relatives about that one. It seems to me that the Chinese side of my family has always had manners. They are very courteous people.

Then again, it may be an interpretation based on different cultures. For example, when our son first came to live with us, he refused to look us in the eyes when we were talking to him. In Western cultures, this could be perceived as rude. Which in fact is how my husband and I interpreted it. However, a Japanese friend taught us that in Japanese culture, it is considered very rude for a younger person to look into the eyes of an older person.

Now, I know we all encounter people who do not say "please" or "thank you" Wonder what their excuse is?

When Visiting a Blog Remember Your Party Manners

Picture source: This Site

Margaret Mary has an excellent post about visitors to blogs.

BTW, I must say that almost everyone who visits here have very good blog manners. Mahalo to you for that!

And, speaking of manners, I am curious about this and I'm directing this to other bloggers. I don't know about you but I get email requests all the time from folks who are looking for certain links, information, prayers, etc.. Even if I can't help them for whatever reason, I always respond.

The curious thing is, that only a small percentage of those folks ever say thank you.

Why? More than feeling slighted by this, I really am curious to know why. I know good manners are still important, are they not?