As you may know in today?s society the outer appearance is very important. However while you can buy expensive clothes and jewelry to make favorable fashion statements, the style & Etiquette of your character far extends your physical appearance. The way you appear on the outside is only one aspect of how people may perceive you. Your behavior and manners are a more accurate depiction of you as a person, and shines brighter than any designer label you could ever wear.
I have a friend ?Nancy? that work in a downtown coffee shop of a heavily populated business district. Every day Nancy encounter high-salaried executives driving luxury cars and whose attire costs more than her entire monthly income. But despite their savvy fashion sense and trendy wardrobes, sorry to say that they behave in a manner that lacks true style & Etiquette.
What changes Nancy?s opinion about these high-power individuals is how they behave when they enter the caf?. When placing orders, they never use simple pleasantries such as ?please? or ?thank you.? Instead they just quickly approach the counter and make their demands without the common courtesy of eye-contact or a simple greeting, most of them are in a hurry on the phone and don?t even care that they are communicating with another person. Even after Nancy acknowledgment with a cheerful welcome, their reaction is usually the same ? abruptly grabbing the cup from her hand and then exiting the store without even holding the door for the customer behind them.
At times she wonders if their behavior is intentional. After all, they are fashion forward, high-power executives and she just an employee serving lattes. But still, there is a definite way to treat people with manners and respect that exemplifies true style & Etiquette. I understand that life is more fast-paced than ever and that we have a lot on our minds. The heavy demands of work, family, and social anxieties can be overwhelming. But if we took just a little of the effort we exert into our physical appearance and geared it towards the style of our character, then we would enhance our value as human beings in a tremendous way.
Simple gestures such as ending a cell phone call before placing an order, saying the words ?please? and ?thank you,? and even a simple ?hello? can make all the difference in how you come across to people. Swanky clothes and designer accessories are only a small aspect of how you appear as a person. Real style is derived by the nature of your character.?
Remember your smile will never go out of style.
