Peter Post on Hygiene Etiquette

The easiest way to deal with the problem is to wash regularly-once a day—and use a deodorant, preferably one with little or no scent. Fresh clothes each day are another must. At the very least, give your shirt or other clothes the "sniff" test-and be honest with yourself about the results.

Hygiene in the Workplace

People who don't wash often enough, or who don't use a deodorant and consequently smell unpleasant, are hurting their opportunity to have good relationships with colleagues and negatively impacting their chances for promotion. 

The easiest way to deal with the problem is to wash regularly-once a day—and use a deodorant, preferably one with little or no scent. Fresh clothes each day are another must. At the very least, give your shirt or other clothes the “sniff” test-and be honest with yourself about the results.

The other big problem area involves scents-cologne, perfume, or scented deodorants. Splashing on the cologne or perfume might make heads turn when you walk by-but maybe for the wrong reason. In fact, many organizations now have “no-scent” policies. –Peter Post in “Essential Manners for Men,” 2003

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

Confusion Over Respiratory Etiquette

 

Disgusted? You are not alone! Why Ms. Millett doesn’t know about respiratory etiquette is a mystery to Etiquipedia. Any good etiquette book has good manners regarding coughs and sneezes.— “If ‘stay at home with a cold’ were a definite rule of etiquette instead of just a health rule, maybe more of us would pay attention to it. After all, more people break health rules than eat with their knives or otherwise defy the rules of etiquette.

It Shouldn't Happen!

If “stay at home with a cold” were a definite rule of etiquette instead of just a health rule, maybe more of us would pay attention to it. After all, more people break health rules than eat with their knives or otherwise defy the rules of etiquette. As it is now, a guest will come to a party and in between a cough and a sneeze, explain to anyone who cares to listen how she really should be home in bed, but she just didn't feel she could let her hostess down at the last minute. Other guests must accept her graciously, expose themselves to her germs and take home colds of their own as a memento of the party.

That wouldn't happen if the “cold spreader” was frowned upon socially, and “stay at home with a cold” was a real and definite rule of etiquette. After all, why shouldn't it be considered really bad manners to go to a party with a cold? The guest with a cold is certainly not a sparkling addition to any party. And she or he is a very real menace to the health, of the other guests. The guest with a cold who. says proudly, “I really should be at home in bed” is telling the truth. She SHOULD be. And there's probably not a soul in the room who doesn't wish that she was. — By Ruth Millett, 1948

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

Manners For Sniffle Season

He Goofed! This young lady is not waiting to see if his germs are Asian or domestic. She’s ducking fast!

Winter, the germiest season of all, has arrived in many parts of the world. All in all, the times seems ripe to review germ etiquette: 

• When you sneeze or cough, cover your mouth with a handkerchief. 
• If there isn't time, at least muffle the explosion with your hand, turning your head away from the nearest person.
• Blowing your nose at the dinner table is permissible, but don't make a production of it and don't apologize; the latter merely calls attention to the act. 
• If your cold is a whopper, carry extra handkerchiefs.
• Fastidious souls are offended at the sight of a battle-worn hankie, and even non-fastidious souls don't enjoy seeing one bloom from someone's breast pocket. Once used, a breast handkerchief stops being picturesque. 
• P.S. to tissue users: Don't blow and throw. How many litter with tissue debris? Alas, too many. 
•  Q & A on P's & Q's 

(Q) “Is it passe to ask guests if they want to wash hands before dinner?” Mrs. S.J., Cleveland 
(A) Until germs are passé, asking will never be.

 

—Portions taken from Don Goodwin‘s ‘Male Polish,’ 1957

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

A Respiratory Etiquette Debate

The consensus of the etiquette experts is that a yawn or a sneeze is only one degree removed from the gravest of all social errors – eating peas with a knife. – Photo source, Pinterest 

WASHINGTON, Oct. 18– Just as the nation was moving safely out of the hay-fever season into winter's cold-in-the-head era, the question of the proper etiquette for sneezing arose today and split the ranks of the distinguished scholars who have studied the subject. It seems to be a clear-cut fight, winner take all, between Dr. Severance Burrage, professor of public health at the University of Colorado, on one side, and the United States Government and Mrs. Emily Post on the other. 

FAVORS SNEEZE 

Burrage came out flatly in favor of a good, healthy uninhibited sneeze. He went through a process which we Americans have come to refer to as hurling a defi at the Namby-Pamby persons who seem to stifle sneezes and yawns. The argument runs that as an expression of your personality, there is nothing like a leisurely 80-second yawn, which closes with a contented “ho hum.” Never suppress one; not even when the boss, just back from his vacation, tells you for the third time about the view from his hotel window and how he and the missus got the room for $5 a day dirt cheap, with meals included. But there is another point that Burrage wishes to hammer home:

“Influenza, pneumonia and other diseases often are caused by the contamination of food and utensils by food handlers whose fingers have been placed over the mouths to settle a sneeze or a yawn.” Stop shuddering, Mrs. Post, and just tell the court in your own words why you disagree with the doctor. The witness testifies that sneezes and yawns must be suppressed at any cost or the social fabric of the nation will collapse. The consensus of the etiquette experts is that a yawn or a sneeze is only one degree removed from the gravest of all social errors – eating peas with a knife. To the support of the etiquette experts rushes the United States public health service with a charming little essay on how influenza germs leap from yawn to yawn and from sneeze to sneeze. The author writes lyrically:

ONLY ONE VOICE

“True, I am only one voice, but I lift up that voice like a foghorn on a misty morning to protest against the habit of the tobacco clerks who dampen their fingers on their tongues and then serve a harmless customer with a package of cigarettes.” But the public health service goes even further. Not only does it want to suppress yawns and sneezes, but it wants to do something about kissing too. “The Chinese custom,” the essay continues, “of bowing and shaking one's own hand is far more desirable from a sanitary standpoint.” Begging your pardon, United States public health service, but the comment that comes readily to the mind is: “Kerchoo!” — By Harry Ferguson (United Press Correspondent), 1933

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

Sneezing Etiquette

“If you are around other people, then the acceptable thing to do is to sneeze into your arm. More specifically, do it into the inside crook of your elbow or into your bicep. That way, the particles get trapped into your clothing and not ejected into the air.” – photo source, Irish Times.com                

Please Don’t Use Your Hands

The standard American greeting comes with a handshake. We open doors with our hands. We eat with our hands, touch our faces, and share everything from pens to computer keyboards. That's why I'm so grossed out when people sneeze into their hands. This is not just a distant memory from elementary school or an observation while riding on Muni. I've seen it happen all around me on campus: sniffling faces and knuckles dragging across noses. Then there's the inevitable sneeze - a loud and forceful eruption of saliva and mucus droplets - usually followed by a chorus of “bless yous.” Some of us need a refresher on sneezing etiquette. 

First, if you are really sick, stay at home! That way, in the safety of your own abode, you can sneeze any way you want to. You can get creative and do a 360-degree sneeze and not pose a risk of infecting anyone else (unless you have roommates, of course). If you are around other people, then the acceptable thing to do is to sneeze into your arm. More specifically, do it into the inside crook of your elbow or into your bicep. That way, the particles get trapped into your clothing and not ejected into the air. 

I've seen variations of this technique, including sneezing into the inside of your shirt or armpit... whatever acts as a convenient barrier is fine. If you forget and end up sneezing into your hands, that's OK, but don't pretend as if everything you just unleashed into your hands magically disappeared. Wash your hands right away! And if that is not feasible, then use a squeeze of some hand sanitizer. With these quick tips, not only will you help stop the spread of germs, but you'll look classy doing it. –From an article by M. Mandap, Synapse, UCFS, 2011

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