While attending a charity event this weekend, I was stunned to see the lack of social skills among the thirty-somethings. You would think they would leave the frat house behavior behind, especially at a formal occasion. During the span of just a few hours, I saw the following:
Groups of people chatting in front of the stairway entry, at the top of the stairway and even on the landing, thus blocking traffic at both ends and in the middle.
Folks leaving empty bottles and glasses on the silent auction tables.
A gaggle of over-intoxicated women horsing-around the restroom and blocking use of the facilities.
Couples dancing while holding their drinks. Do you really need a glass in hand to dance? With an open bar, I don't think they needed to worry about the fate of any beverages left on the table for two minutes.
Someone spilled a large quantity of a cocktail into the cuff of my suit and just walked away. I was stunned to find I was dripping alcohol. It didn't do too much for the silk suit, either. I'm trying to decide if this was an improvement from two years ago when a man grabbed my Pashmina and threw it on a spilled drink and began stomping on it.
PARTNER stepped aside for a woman to pass through the crowd only to have her cut-off by a man who pushed right by us.
I don't think there is a pocket in a tuxedo specifically made for a cellphone, but that didn't stop anyone. Taking calls and texting was a live auction diversion.
I would write this off as getting crotchety in my advancing years, but I have heard my children comment on the decline of manners in the business and social world.I know that a significant number of Midland youth attended Cotillion class, so it is not like they haven't been taught etiquette. Really, how much trouble is it to be gracious? It doesn't cost one anything and makes a lasting impression.
(In this part of the country, we tend to soften our criticisms a bit. Instead of calling these folks rude, crude and socially unacceptable, we just label their behavior as "tacky." This covers a multitude of sins ranging from bad taste to tasteless behavior. As in "Did you get that tacky wedding thank-you done on the computer?")
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