Friday, December 17, 2010
Etiquette with Miss E
I have recently learned that getting a name on my blog is a big deal among my group of friends. Emily, especially, has been trying for a while to get a nickname... which was hard, because my computer is still non-functional, so my blogging has been minimal. But -- did you see that, Emily? You have a name now!
The occasion?
A couple weeks ago, I sneezed during Mass. A male friend of mine reached out and offered me a handkerchief. I turned it down, more as a result of reflex than conscious thought. A couple days later, the same young man offered a handkerchief to a girl he did not know in the student center, who had chocolate all over her fingers. These instances made me wonder : What happens next?
Handkerchiefs have fallen out of the mainstream. I know 2-3 people who carry them, one of whom is my father. I have never been offered a handkerchief before that day, and I'm willing to bet this experience is common to most women. So, very few women would know what to do after using a chivalrously offered handkerchief.
The solution to my dilemma : I discovered that Emily had been to finishing school. I had my very own etiquette expert! After discussing the question with her, I decided that Etiquette Lessons with Miss E had to be a new addition to my blog. Each week, I will email Emily a question and report her answer to you, my faithful readers. Do you have etiquette questions of your own? Send them my way, and they will make their way to Miss E!
Lesson One: The Handkerchief
What does a lady do if a gentleman offers her a handkerchief and she uses it?
She takes it home and washes it, of course. With giggling and batting of eyelashes appropriate to her level of interest in him. Which, of course, also informs the speed at which he gets it back -- kind of like when your high school crush loans you his sweatshirt. If, as was the case with the girl in the student center, she will never see him again, she has gained for herself a new handkerchief! Except, of course, that girl. Since it was only chocolate on her fingers, she could have folded it neatly and given it back to him.
As a final note, be careful! According to Miss E, any self-respecting lady knows that bodily fluids are a very important matter. The exchange of bodily fluids, as any gentleman who carries a handkerchief knows, is tantamount to the promise of marriage. If he takes your snot home, he might bring a ring back.
The occasion?
A couple weeks ago, I sneezed during Mass. A male friend of mine reached out and offered me a handkerchief. I turned it down, more as a result of reflex than conscious thought. A couple days later, the same young man offered a handkerchief to a girl he did not know in the student center, who had chocolate all over her fingers. These instances made me wonder : What happens next?
Handkerchiefs have fallen out of the mainstream. I know 2-3 people who carry them, one of whom is my father. I have never been offered a handkerchief before that day, and I'm willing to bet this experience is common to most women. So, very few women would know what to do after using a chivalrously offered handkerchief.
The solution to my dilemma : I discovered that Emily had been to finishing school. I had my very own etiquette expert! After discussing the question with her, I decided that Etiquette Lessons with Miss E had to be a new addition to my blog. Each week, I will email Emily a question and report her answer to you, my faithful readers. Do you have etiquette questions of your own? Send them my way, and they will make their way to Miss E!
Lesson One: The Handkerchief
What does a lady do if a gentleman offers her a handkerchief and she uses it?
She takes it home and washes it, of course. With giggling and batting of eyelashes appropriate to her level of interest in him. Which, of course, also informs the speed at which he gets it back -- kind of like when your high school crush loans you his sweatshirt. If, as was the case with the girl in the student center, she will never see him again, she has gained for herself a new handkerchief! Except, of course, that girl. Since it was only chocolate on her fingers, she could have folded it neatly and given it back to him.
As a final note, be careful! According to Miss E, any self-respecting lady knows that bodily fluids are a very important matter. The exchange of bodily fluids, as any gentleman who carries a handkerchief knows, is tantamount to the promise of marriage. If he takes your snot home, he might bring a ring back.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Day-Maker #15
Today, an old Facebook photo of a friend came up on my profile, because someone commented on it. I looked back at the photo of two friends and remembered how much I had loved the expression of the man in the background, looking off pensively into the sky. To my surprise, I recognized him : Percy's new roommate! It's a small world!
Monday, December 6, 2010
Black Screen of Dooom
My laptop currently beeps at me and tells me it has a "fan error" when I try to turn it on. So if my posts come with less frequency, you know why.
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Thanksgiving?!?
It came, somehow. I'm not sure where the entire month of November went, but all of a sudden I was having a birthday and a Thanksgiving. Who knew?
I traveled home on Tuesday night to avoid the Wednesday rush and enjoy those new 70mph speed limits. This travel plan gave me Wednesday, Thursday, and some of Friday to enjoy the company of my family, although not all of us made it home for Thanksgiving. I suppose I was the missing one last year, but it felt incomplete.
On Thursday I got down to the serious business of cooking. We were having dinner at my aunt's house, so the heavy-duty cooking happened there. However, I made my first-ever sweet potato casserole. I couldn't find a recipe that was quite what I wanted. One of my sisters was highly skeptical as she watched me mash the potatoes and then open the spice cabinet and start smelling things. As I threw in brown sugar, butter, milk, allspice, and ginger, I made her taste it. In the end, I had a delicious dish from no recipe.
Family dinners always degenerate into political, philosophical, or religious discussions with this side of the family, which is probably how I acquired my taste for that kind of conversation. This time, we hashed out WWI, WWII, Iraq, and Afghanistan in light of my mother's pacifistic tendencies. (A lot of her world views mirror Father Dude's, even to the point of how they phrase things.) It's funny how sometimes I can see just how my family formed me.
Day-Maker #14
Past Christmas lights on my neighbor's porch, I can see snow falling in the streetlights above the brick path.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)