Wedding Manners

OMG when they can make a television show titled, Bridezilla's, you know weddings are hotbeds for bad manners.

I've been to a lot of weddings, most good, some bad, but only because they were tacky and some wonderful. The most recent wedding that was fabulous was my nephew's in Sonoma. The bride planned everything beautifully. The food was perfect, the setting was perfect and they were sincerely in love. Plus, there were lots of hook-ups so everyone had a great time.

These horrible television weddings have got to be staged! If not we're in a sad place when one of the most eventful days of our lives, turns into a Japanese Monster Movie.

I like to invision what the women featured in this video is like on a daily basis. Where does she work?...possibly in government. When I call up any government office I generally get this type of person who swears a lot or makes me swear a lot or when I call customer service for my internet connection...then I usually end up swearing like this woman. I become a Japanese Monster with fire coming out every orafice. But I won't transgress into customer service...just yet anyway.

Have you got any wedding stories to tell? My next guest on my radio show, Manners for Everyday Situations, Friday at 1:00 on KONKam1680, a local photographer extrordinaire has lots of stories to tell. Not just about the wedding party, but about the officiators as well. Yikes!
xoxoAmanda
click here

Happy New Year

To all my Jewish Friends, I wish you a Happy New Year! click here

Driving A Taxi

Driving a taxi could be fun, but you've got to have chutspa! Most taxi's I get into in NYC the taxi drivers are pretty nice. But sometimes I think they think I'm stupid and drive circuitously around to get to where I want to go. It's not like they drive to Brooklyn or Jersey, I think I'd know we wouldn't hae to go over a bridge unless I was going out of NYC.

One time my friends and I were going to dinner on 60th street. I suddenly realized we had passed 60th St. long behind. So taking a tip from my daughter I commented loudly that we were WAY past 60th St. and asked him, the taxi driver, what he was doing. He was busted and appologized. Taking a tip from my daughter, the New Yawker, I told him to turn off the meter.

Why aren't there female drivers in NYC? You got questions like me? Call me on Friday at 1:00pm at 305-294-2769!

xoxoAmanda click driving a taxi below and enjoy!

driving a taxi

TAXI Manners

Taxi Click on Taxi to see the video:

You taxi drivers are certainly in your own world. This Friday 09/18/09 Doc Sid will be on my radio show 'Manners for Everyday Situations. You can find it online: www.konkam.com It's 1680 down here in Key West. Doc Sid is a great guy. He is a orthopeadic surgeon, but now drives a taxi. I interviewed him for a short film I did about people who drop out of respectable society positions and do what they want. He has a lot to talk about. In fact he talks a lot... which is why driving a taxi is perfect for him. It gives him a chance to meet new people, and he meets a lot of new people driving a cab in a tourist town.

There are a lot of manners involved in both driving a taxi and being a passenger. I travel to NYC once a month and am an avid subway rider. I used to be a speed demon, but now unless I'm on a freeway (west coast upbringing) I only drive about 40 mph at the most because of the confines of the narrow streets of Key West. The taxi drivers in NYC scare the bejeesus out of me, plus they are super expensive, hot in the summer, cold in the winter and sometimes really smelly. I always am nauseated when I step out of one.

Seriously, I try to be considerate. I always tip at least 20%, my daughter the New Yorker says I overtip and I always tell the driver thank you and to have a nice day or evening, much to my passengers chagrin. Maybe I'm just being labeld a patsy for being too nice...do you think that's it? The taxi drivers in NYC think I'm a patsy and aren't giving me any respect...

Anyway, you should tune into my radio show...it's always fun, we talk about everything. Call me at: 305-294-2769 with your questions or comments. I'll be on Friday at: 1:00pm est.

xoxoAmanda

Machine Manners

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuAt6voOTf4 What do you do when your machine eats your card? Nothing is more frustrating than a machine that malfunctions. How can we hold them accountable? The banking institution that provides the machine refuses to be accountable for the machines malfunction, so what is a consumer to do?

Banks are the bane of our impolite society. They may provide safe storage of money up to $100,000maybe $500,000 now that our dollar is worth less, but seriously what else do they do for us? Remember when banks wooed you to deposit with gifts and high interest? That's how old I am, I remember.

Here's how I get back at banks...I keep as little money as possible in them. When I use their debit/credit card, I always charge it because that costs the bank money. If you use the card as a debit card you will most likely be charged a user fee among other fees. Debit cards are scary. Credit cards are good, but you must pay off your balance every month, otherwise the bank wins again. WRITE checks. Banks do not like checks. But if you get a low check writing account, free checking then you can write checks. Seriously, you won't be writing that many checks. Banks are so inefficient that when you write a check even though it is run through a computerized system they still have a check counter! More inefficiency.

Also, has anyone run into a nice, efficient teller that is well groomed and good mannered? My tellers are all ex-makeup artists for the goth look.

So the question is...where do you keep your $. The stock market. If you're super conservative then buy CD's, but shop around. Use an online bank. After all, your money is seriously only numbers in an account. But online banks pay way more interest and are easier to deal with and very forgiving. If you make a mistake and catch it within 24 hours they waive any fee...try that with a banker.

As far as I'm concerned the only good bank is a blood bank.
Manners for everyday situations,
xoxoAmanda

Weekend of Bad Manners

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCHgf7PUybA Wow! Could it get much worse. Could we be any more rude. I can assure you Kim Clijsters didn't want to get to the finals because Serena acted so ill-mannered.

Way to go Kim on winning the US Open. You have proved to Moms everywhere that we don't have to sit back and believe it can't happen!

But if that wasn't enough, how about Kayne West...are you kidding me? His Momma needed to give him a few more spankings growing up.

People, keep your opinions to yourself or vent them to friends at the appropriate times. On television is not the time unless you are warranted in doing so. An opinion is just that. Usually a vote or consensus doesn't agree with you and you have lost. Yes, you should keep your opinion and fight for what you believe, but you must also be gracious in losing your battle. There will be other battles and time for redeemtion. If your opinion rings true then it will come to light...but I don't want to hear about it especially when it affects an honest athlete who is trying to play a game, or a singer whose art, (subjective) is considered better or an elected (key word) official is speaking at a formal venue. Must we show the entire world that we have NO manners?

Comeon...where is our civility? Where are our manners!
Everyone needs to do their part to make this world a better place. No one is going to listen to squabbling and fighting anymore. Let's be at peace.

Manners for everyday situations. Think before you speak. Think before you act. Be a better person then you thought possible. You will be taken seriously.

xoxoAmanda

911 we will never forget

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0Qu6eyyr4c
Forgiveness is not about forgetting. We as a nation will never forget the horrific dead, a madman inflicted upon our country. We as a world of human beings must stop this anger over diversity. We must realize that we are all the same, yet different and embrace this difference. We must respect this difference. We must put down our guns and stop inflicting our laws upon nations and cultures that are from a different ilk.

What we must do is to allow freedom. Freedom for the oppressed to change their lives. We as a nation cannot impose our freedom upon others, it is up to their people to seek it out. That nation or culture must realize we are a global population and that no culture will survive unless one is free to practice one's own beliefs and allowed the freedom to change.

911 was the most horrific day I can imagine. I hope it never reoccurs anywhere else...but after writing that, I was never a citizen of Afghanistan or any other city that was invaded and destroyed.

Nothing is going to change unless we as human beings change it. The first and foremost way is by respect.

Respect your fellow human being. Respect yourself, teach your children how to respect. If we loose this battle, all will be lost.

YOU LIE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0PqBiNUyqU Joe Wilson is a powerful fool. He breaks my heart with his disrespect and his parties disrespect for the Obama presidency. If he believes so strongly about the President lying, then he should have been the one to retort against Obama's Health Care Proposal on camera instead of having admittedly a ineffectual, with nothing to loose.

This country is based on controversy and disagreement. Disagreement is what makes our country great. We can even agree to disagree, how cool is that! I understand that Wilson's constituents have entrusted him with their beliefs regarding the Health Care Proposal, but I doubt they entrusted him to call the President a liar to his face while he hides in the mass of the Republican bull pen.

This action of disrespect is very serious and dangerous. This is precisely why I am promoting the platform of manners. I know there was a more fervent and considerate way of making Wilson and his constituents feelings known. But to yell "liar" to the President is outrageous and shouldn't be tolerated. I can only hope SNL makes him the joke he is, but it shouldn't stop there. We should ignore him and his constituents until they vote in someone who can get their feelings known that doesn't resort to petty name calling like the juvenile he is.

What happens after name calling. Guns. Is that what South Carolina's Wilson is purporting? We are walking on a slippery slope. Our country has forgotten the manners of communication and debate. We must listen to all sides and make our choices. Let us not forget that we the people of the United States of America voted Barack Obama into office. For once, we need to convene as a nation. Will it take an alien invasion to unify us?

A Dose of Manners

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5x5CVOlKWdQ Manners can be like a disease, it can take over your mind. Once you get them, it's hard to get rid of them, they just take over. Manners are like tenderness and kindness. Try a little.

Today is Labor Day. Down here in Key West, it's obvious this Labor Day is different. Sure the retail stores are open just like on every holiday. Living in a tourist town we cater to tourists, but we realize the rest of the country has caught up with us. After the summer of hurricanes, Dennis, Katrina and then Wilma, we got pretty wiped out. Since it was a mandatory evacuation, the service industry packed up their meager belongings and hightailed it to safe ground. Because the island was hit hard, more than half of it flooded, a lot of businesses were closed down for a long time. The service industry went to work up North and realized that they didn't have to work three jobs to afford crappy housing and bad schools with little or no health care. Wow, what a revolution.

I'm thinking the island could be a model for the rest of country and come back fighting armed with integrity. We still need to clean up and maybe even start over. Our school system is bust. We pay our teachers a LOT of money, I know because I asked, but they aren't teaching our children what they need to know because they are too busy teaching them how to score well on FCAT. Also, from the teacher's accounts, the students arrive ill prepared to do their job, which is learning. They're too busy socializing with technology and made stupid by it. Remember when we got calculators and were allowed to use them in school, the wise thinking it would encourage us to become math wizards...it didn't quite work out like that. I am embarrassed to say I can barely remember how to do division! We need to take back our children, teach them manners and with that respect and teach them to become productive human beings. The rest will follow!

Key West is an amazing town. We still believe in one human family and rally when that notion becomes obscured by hooligans. We have a manageable community, but we have big city problems. Unfortunately there is a lot of nepotism here. The community is crying for well educated and experienced leaders, but then when we hire them all we do is complain and make their lives miserable while they try to clean up the mess. We need to put our false pride away and help. The first way is with respect. Let's respect everyone trying to do a job and help them out by making it easier for them, not harder and let's teach our children respect and manners. To treat others as you would like to be treated.

Be nice today and make a difference.
Got a problem with manners, tell me about it: amandapipersmith@aol.com

Movie Manners

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZh_2uRU5R0 I just saw the same movie...but I think I was in a different theatre. I did have the usually obnoxious people around me too. I just don't get it. People, do you think you're at home watching on television? Didn't you pay for your tickets? I don't know about you, but $25. for two movie tickets is pretty freakin expensive and I don't feel like having my movie experience ruined by ill-mannered people!

Must you talk? Last I knew, movies were meant to be watched and listened to...even the foreign films. SHUT UP!!!!! Or leave the theater and go to a coffee house. Must you chew with your mouth open? Good theaters give you a container for your candy in a crinkly bag, so you don't make noise when dipping your hand in to get your candy, but even so, chomping with your mouth open makes milkduds loud. Close your mouth. Slurping. Guess what, your drink is finished when nothing comes out of thes staw.

YES, please turn off your cell phone. Please don't answer it and then proceed to try and tell the caller you can't talk, you're in a movie. Turn it OFF or go to a coffee house and wait for the call.

Do not talk to your neighbor explaing all the details, wondering who the actor is and where you've seen him or what you think the twist or plot line is going to be unless you're sitting next to a blind person...seriously, I did that once, go to a coffee house to discuss.

Remember your manners, just because it's dark doesn't mean I don't know who you are.
Manners for everyday situations.
xoxoAmanda

Men are sloppy.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mVuWxlWIeY So what's new? I just returned from NYC and a diversity of bad and good manners. But the plane ride home was the culmination of ridiculousness. I was lucky enough to travel first class, thanks to mileage. Why do I always forget it's usually the ones accustomed to luxury that are the rudest? There was a guy in front of me that reminded me of what narcissism means. He was kind of handsome in that Euro-trash way, and ever demanding, but really...did we all have to hear all of his voice mails on speaker phone? There weren't even any interesting ones from women or men describing any sexual escapes real or imagined. I should have known when he reclined his seat all the way back, luckily there is some room in first class and I am petite. Even the flight attendant was annoyed with his silliness and his finger snapping attention grabbing.

Thank goodness the flight was only 2 and 1/2 hours and the food was actually good. Sometimes American Airlines gets it right. But I gotta say...I will write the book on travel manners. So watch out you people who line up an hour before they call the flight that are not even Priority boarders. GET OUT OF THE WAY!!!!! Unless of course you are flying Southwest, and why would anyone do that to themselves?

Manners for everyday situations,
xoxoAmanda

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iiAO71w8MeM I think Dean himself needs a few manners or at least a diction class and loose the um's. I can't belive he's a student teacher and to top that off he sleeps on the subway...that in itself is bad manners. I don't think this video covers good manners at all. It's more about him complaining about the other riders when he himself is a bad example. He needs to relax and not be the first one at the door to get off. Does he step aside for riders to get off when he's waiting to get on?

Dean, remember to behave like you'd like others to behave. Do not sleep on the train. Do not try and be first. There is time for everyone to get on and off. Don't forget to offer your seat to ladies or the elderly or infirm. Do not spit your gum out or tuck it under the seat, do not spit period! Do not litter. I am crazy about this one...PEOPLE stop littering!

Here's a good one. Put a smile on your face. You'll be amazed at how people treat you positively.
Manners for everyday situations.
xoxoAmanda

good morning

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWcsq2w8fwI This is unusual for me to post early in the morning unless I haven't been to sleep yet, but I thought this video was so nice and calming. I don't think most families wake up to this kind of joy anymore, if ever. I remember when I was a kid and I was lucky to get a bowl of stale cereal. My Mom did offer me eggs, but I thought eggs were gross. I'm still not crazy about them unless they're deviled. Anyway, the dog was always barking, my brothers were always rushing off to school or swim practice and my dad was hurrying to do 'rounds'. He was a pediatrician and my Mom was just trying to get us all out of the house.

I have found that when we rise at the time our body clock wants us to rise we are very refreshed and relaxed, but unless you're a struggling writer like me, when do you get to sleep on your schedule. And now with all the technology accosting us as soon as our eyelids open...

Also, if you can take a bath instead of a shower you'll find that you wake happier. It also helps to have someone bring you coffee and glazed donuts in bed!
Just remember if you're sleeping with someone, a gentle kiss and a good morning are the best way to get someone to rise and shine...or glow....
Manners for everyday situations.