Food, Home and Style
Easy Etiquette, Recession Approved
You may have lost your job recently, but that’s no excuse to lose your manners, too. Of course, with so many friends and family members struggling with unemployment and financial woes, you may not be sure exactly what proper etiquette even entails anymore.
After all, who’s supposed to pick up the check at dinner now that all of your i-banker friends aren’t feeling so flush? And when is the right time to start networking at a party? Today’s recession is quickly changing all the rules, and bringing up questions that no Miss Manners book in the library is ready to answer.
Luckily, a bevy of “etiquette experts” have been doling out recession-friendly advice over the past few weeks and putting together some general guidelines.
Network Wisely
Not every event is a chance to network. Kids’ birthday parties, cocktail hours, and dentist appointments—yes, some people have tried to network at dentist appointments—are not the time to start promoting your business skills and career goals. If you do happen to meet a potential business contact at a non-approved event, just ask for his or her information and follow-up later with whatever business questions you see fit.
Ask for a Separate Check at Dinner
Forget the days of splitting the check evenly with 10 of your friends. It’s perfectly acceptable to ask for a separate check when you’re out to eat with your more lavishly-spending cohorts nowadays. Just make sure to ask your server to split up the bill up front to avoid massive confusion at the end of the meal.
Stop Pestering Unemployed Friends
If a friend wants to share how her job search is going, she will. If she doesn’t bring it up, it probably means she doesn’t want to talk about it. While it’s still okay to ask how things are going, anything more is probably pushing the limit. A better idea: Ask your friend to dinner or coffee and make sure she knows it’s your treat. Just don’t choose a restaurant that’s super fancy, or you’re likely to get a no on the invitation.
Don’t Skip Out on Weddings and Events
Don’t have enough money in the bank to start splurging on expensive wedding gifts anymore? That doesn’t mean you should skip out on the wedding altogether. One positive aspect of the recession is that party hostesses have changed their expectations of what constitutes as a proper gift, so it’s perfectly acceptable to go in on a present with friends or buy something that’s cheaper but from the heart. Remember what your mom always said, it’s the thought that counts!
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I couldn’t agree with this etiquette piece more. We probably should have stuck to the above all along but it took a whole economic downturn to knock sense into some of us.