Dissin’ Manners and Mouths?

Dissin’ Manners and Mouths?
By: Cheeba Sobotka

OMGsh, I can’t believe he would come here with green things in his teeth! And now he’s like, yelling at me with “R” rated words, pumping my hand up and down and won’t let go!!! I’m tweeting this one.

Don’t act like this. Whoever you are, whoever your friend is, don’t. And if you act like this – stop it. No matter what you think about them, good manners and appropriate communication skills (not untamed mouths) do make a difference. With the huge impact of social networking sites, tweeting this tacky situation could make or break crucial relationships.

Another example: When out to lunch with a prospective client, I was disenchanted by a mouthful of talking food, a cell phone that HAD to be answered about every 3 minutes, and a conversation that was adrift throughout our limited time together. This is too rude.

To make matters worse, when I received an email from this person, (unisex name “Bobby”) it looked as if a fourth grader had sent it. Whoops, another one slid through the system. Obviously this seemingly well-educated person needed an English do-over or an email 101 class.

Though “Bobby” was a very caring person with a great deal of marketable skills, these issues alone seemed to cast a great deal of doubt about the ability to succeed in business in this globally competitive world.

Yet another example: Have you ever eaten with people that eat hunched over their food, inhaling every bite while pushing food on their fork with their finger? If you grew up in a home like this, it’s not a bad thing, but it may be time to give it up. If you do it at home, you’ll do it when eating out. Now combine this with “green stuff in the teeth” and you’ve got a pretty sorry mess with a very little probable case for career advancement.

Finale: If you’re still thinking that this stuff is not that important, remember that we now live in a global business environment that just happens to be in a period of exponential change. It’s not going to stop or slow down while you catch up.

Most of all get over yourself because even though some of the old rules are being re-written, great manners and well-honed conversational skills are still essential. The more success you attain, the more polished manners will make a difference. Who knows? You may end up across the table from some real life royalty as opposed to the person with green stuff in his teeth!