Good Etiquette and Borrowing Items

“In cities and large communities there is comparatively little of the kitchen borrowing that has come to be proverbial in stories, but there are few households which do not find a fairly good list of borrowed articles accumulated in the course of the year. A book from this friend, an umbrella from that, a written recipe from another, a bit of fancy work as a model from another, and so on. The use which the borrower has for the loaned articles is temporary. It is, therefore, purely a selfish laziness which retains them, after such case, from the owner, who may be in positive and continuous need of the thing.” Above– A silver fork novel. Etiquipedia has loaned out hundreds of etiquette books over many years. Fortunately, most people return them after reading them. 

Along with the habit to pronounce people's names correctly, to reply promptly to-notes, and the like, another mark of the regard for the rights of others, which indicates inherent refinement, is the practice of returning borrowed articles. In cities and large communities there is comparatively little of the kitchen borrowing that has come to be proverbial in stories, but there are few households which do not find a fairly good list of borrowed articles accumulated in the course of the year. A book from this friend, an umbrella from that, a written recipe from another, a bit of fancy work as a model from another, and so on. The use which the borrower has for the loaned articles is temporary. It is, therefore, purely a selfish laziness which retains them, after such case, from the owner, who may be in positive and continuous need of the thing.

No one likes to send for something which has been loaned– it is a rebuke which it is unpleasant to give as well as to receive. The expedience of one woman in this connection may be of use to some others. A certain shelf in a certain closet was given up to borrowed articles. The moment one came into the house it was put there. If its use was immediate, it was returned to the shelf after such use, and a constant inspection kept the receptacle clear of such articles as had served their borrowed purpose. Nothing borrowed was ever lost, and everything was always promptly returned, by being easily accessible at the opportune moment. Children in particular are apt to be careless borrowers and lenders. Such a shelf is a valuable object lesson in a family of young people, and there are many elders who can profit by it as well. – New York Times, 1892

 

🍽Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia