A RUNNING List of Etiquette tips for the modern MAN and WOMAN

If your cell phone rings,excuse yourself to take the call, or turn the phone off. Do not talk on the phone while you are inline to pay at Safeway. Do not take a call while you are on the crowded metro. It is quite rude to text message while you are in the company of others. Text messaging is not that attractive to watch. Shut off your phone completely when you are around other people in social situations. It is most important to remember is to be courteous and thoughtful to the people around you, regardless of what situation you are in.

"ayt, atm I am list-n to tv, wtg for Aaron to get home...aiic afaik hes at ftball. -K "

Follow standard writing guidelines as a professional courtesy When sending emails don't send incomplete sentences, or use the abbreviated words to form a sentence. Internet slang comes across immature and sloppy. DON'T TYPE IN ALL CAPS. IT'S TOO INTENSE, and you appear too lazy to type properly.

Here is the sentence above

"Are you there ? At the moment I am listening to something on tv waiting for Aaron to get home as if I care, as far as I know Dad has him at Football. Katlyn"

Our global community is living closer together as immigration increases. This is not a problem only in the US, but in all countries. I have seen many business transactions where the customer speaks perfectly good English, but then reverts to his native language to tell his business partner truly what he thinks. The person who does not speak the foreign language always questions in the back of his mind if he is being spoken poorly of. This is not good taste and often results in distrust.

If you are sending out a kind message, do not include your entire contact list in the forward for everyone then to use and see. If you choose so, please address it under Blind Carbon Copy. (BCC) feature. Don't put your friends emails in your forwards allowing them to get spam. Don't forward messages with three pages of mail-to attachment information before they get to the content. In the message you forward, delete the extraneous information such as all the "Memo to," subject, addresses, and date lines.

When considering clothing, ask yourself..."Would I wear this around my father, or mother, grandmother or grandfather?" If not, change. My husband and I were boarding a plane and saw a girl 50 meters away, I couldn't figure out what pants she was wearing. I looked closer and she was wearing a dress! Her dress was so high, I thought it was a shirt, as it barely covered her behind. I was embarrassed for her, but all those people around her. There is a big difference between classy and trashy. A lady can be sexy being covered wearing the right clothes that accentuate her body without bearing her breasts and showing skin.

Here's a rundown of some quick tips to brush up on your phone manners and phone style.

Have a purpose when you are making a phone call. Keep an eye on the time. You certainly do not want to keep a person on the phone for more than 40 minutes. The average attention span of an adult is 20 minutes.

Please do not dominate the conversation, and talk only about yourself. These people are called un-loaders. They want to tell you about their problems, they are not looking for an answer, but just need to UNLOAD. People who dominate conversations find themselves being avoided in social situations. Everyone has a turn to talk. Contribute to conversations without dominating them

Don't type or shuffle papers while you're on the phone - it suggests that you're not listening to the caller and they get the message that they are not important to you.

Be sure to not eat food, chew gum or smoke while talking on the phone - the receiver amplifies your noshing.

If you have to sneeze or cough, turn your head and cover your mouth - and the receiver.

Cut down on the background noise when taking or making a call. Radios, televisions, and even computer bings and bleeps can be distracting over the phone.

Last and most important, DO not have a conversation with someone else (the dog, children, business) in the room while on the phone. IF necessary, excuse yourself to handle the situation if necessary. NO not do this repeatedly while on the phone. It is best to tell the caller that you will phone back another time to talk.

Is your mouth a trash container spewing out awful words? What comes out of the mouth exists in the heart as the bible says.

Do you use harsh or derogatory language toward anyone present or absent?.

Sewing Discord is an abomination to God, but all of us criticize each others lives over and over again. DO you discipline your CHILDREN in front of others? This is the worst, especially family. YOU SHOULD always take them into another room and correct them. It is especially embarrassing for the children to be corrected in public. Do you pick apart your spouse in public? It is especially bad taste to do so, or to have a disagreement where others can see.

Do you ever come across people who their main form of conversation is throwing insults at their spouse? Putting down the person they are having a conversation with? Have you met a person who can never seem to pay a complement? EVER? Refrain from insults and prying curiosity or judgment into other people's lives.

Unless someone tells you it is ok NOT to take your shoes off, they should come off at the front door. Even if your shoes are partly clean, over time they track soot on the carpet that only shampooing removes. Visiting a doctors office, I threw my gum into the garbage, forgetting to wrap the gum into a tissue. My mom sure straightened me out on that one!

Some people say, you shouldn't be too rude to tell people to take off their shoes. I DO! The way I look at it, is GUESTS should have the class to go ahead and take off their shoes. It is in bad taste otherwise, even if you are walking across vinyl or tile.

It is always a good reminder to be on your best in any home or place of business.

Keep to the right on the sidewalk and in stairwells. Keep to the right on Highways and freeways. It is considered poor etiquette to drive slow in the left lane. Be sure to always extend your hand letting others go first before yourself. When someone does extend for you to have the right away, or a gentleman opens the door for you to pass through first, BE SURE to thank them for their good manners. Rewarding someone with the complement of good manners is well needed, so other people know good manners is an admirable quality