Miss Manners' Guide for the Turn of the Millennium Book

Contents

List of Illustrations

Preface

Introduction

Heavy Etiquette Theory

Some Principles

A Sampler of Problems Mrs. Perfect Never Had to Face

1. Revised Conventions

Modern Ladies and Gentlemen

Traditional Confusion

Forms of Address

Honorifics

Names

Conventional Gestures, Phrases, and Words

Greetings

Introductions

Conventional Phrases

Conversation

Establishing Identity

Traditionally Forbidden Topics

Personal Questions and Remarks

Questions and Comments About...

Advice

Correcting Others

Fashionable Emotions

Dress

Public Manners

The New Smoking Rules

Driving

Dealing with Strangers

Buses and Streets

Unfortunate Habits

Crime

2. Home Life

Steprelations, Former Spouses, and Former In-Laws

The Changing Household

The Unmarried Couple

The Traditional Family

Marital Communication

Roommates

Family Matters

Parents and Children

For Parents

For Others

Social Life with Babies

Early Lessons

Stepparents, Teachers, and Others

Child Rearing Sabotaged

Adolescence

Table Manners

Equipment and How to Use It

Difficult Foods

Household Help

The Real Servant Problem

Neighborliness

Communications at Home

The Telephone

The Mail

3. The Workplace

Businesslike Behavior

Women in the Workplace

Professional Standards

Appropriate Attire

Business Communication

The Life Cycle of a Job

4. Business and the Public

Dealing with the Public

The Staff and the Practitioner

The Attitude Problem

TheTravel Industry

Hotel

Restaurants

Tipping

5. When Business gets Personal

How to Tell Business from Social Life

Social Harassment

Presents and Bonuses

Annoyance in the Workplace

Mixing Professional and Private Life

The Business of Charity

6. Genuine Social Life

Friendship

Financing Friendship

Organizing Social Life

Controlling Social Life

Social Obligations for Hosts and Guests

The Guest List

Social Occasions

New and Old Forms

Balls and Dances

Parties with a Point

Party Procedure

Dinner Parties

Food

Social Disasters

Houseguests

Presents

Expressing Gratitude

Recreation

Theaters and Other Public Places

Participatory Sports

7. Courtship and Romance

Methods of Meeting

Gender Roles

The Stages of Courtship

Social Promiscuity

Polite Rejection

8. Ceremonies and Celebrations

Engagements

Showers

Baby Showers

Weddings: An Overview

Planning the Wedding

The Guest List

Invitations and Announcements

The Wedding Party

Dress for Weddings

The Wedding Reception

Minor Customs

Wedding Presents

Other Ceremonies

Birth Ceremonies

Coming of Age

Special Occasions

Wedding Anniversaries

9. Funerals and Bereavement

Funerals

Condolences

Bereavement

Legacies

10. Protocol

The American Way

Official Life

Titles

Index

Acknowledgments