How To Be A Lady: A Contemporary Guide to Common Courtesy Book

Okay, this is really basic stuff. So basic, in fact, that I began to wonder who the book was for. And then I read a few of the reviews on Goodreads and discovered exactly who the book was for, and apparently they wanted none of it. Which is sad, really, but that's the way it usually happens.

The book could easily be summed up into a single sentence on page 115:

"A lady knows that when faced with a question as to how to treat another person in any situation, she attempts to treat that person as she would wish to be treated."

(You may have heard of that one before.)

And, for good measure, a few additions such as:

"A lady never says or does things that would make others feel small."

"A lady accepts no for an answer, the first time she hears it."

"When faced with life's minor setbacks, a lady does not act like a victim."

Acknowledging that there are other people in the world, that they are every bit as important as we are and deserve to be treated with courtesy and consideration is behind every single one of these tips, even the extremely basic ones:

"A lady chews her food quietly."

"A lady knows that 'please' and 'thank you' and 'excuse me' are still
the magic words."

"A lady wears clean, fresh underwear." (Please don't ask me to explain that one.)

Yes, there's a longing, fed-up side to my nature that adores people with lovely manners and would like to wrap up and deliver a few copies anonymously, with relevant passages marked:

"A lady does not talk about her weight or how much weight she is going to gain by eating something she has ordered at the table."

"A lady knows how to accept a compliment by saying, "Thank you." She never says, "This old thing?" when another person compliments what she is wearing. A lady knows that questioning someone's compliment is akin to questioning their taste."

But I fear it would do no good. And a lady would never resort to such a thing anyway.