A college president, addressing an audience of about 100 women, on the privilege of a college education…
“Pretend for a moment that the hundred of you in this room represent the population of the world. Here’s what you would look like:
- 57 of you would be Asians, 21 Europeans, 14 from the Western Hemisphere, and eight from Africa.
- 51 of you would be female, 49 male.
- 70 of you would be nonwhite, 30 of you white. 66 of you would be non-Christian.
- 80 of you would live in substandard housing.
- 70 of you would be illiterate.
- 50 of you would suffer from malnutrition or go to bed hungry every night.
- The six of you at this table would hold half of the wealth in this room—you six are Americans.
- And only one of you has a college degree.”
A facilities designer talking about the need for clear communication:
He handed everyone a piece of paper and asked them to close their eyes. He proceeded to give folding and tearing instructions that everyone was supposed to follow with their eyes closed.
After a minute or so of directions, he asked everyone to open their eyes, unfold their piece of paper and hold it up. Amazingly, everyone in the room had a different-looking snowflake-like design, underscoring his point that just blanket instructions—without clear explanations, demonstrations, and feedback—were not enough to guarantee consistent outcomes.
One evening, the famous etiquette authority Emily Post hosted a dinner party in her Washington DC home. There were many famous political and social luminaries there, and the guest of honor was a third world dignitary. The evening progressed comfortably through the various courses, and everything was going beautifully until coffee was served. To the astonishment and horror of all those present, the guest of honor picked up his cup and saucer, poured his coffee from his cup to his saucer, blew on it, and then slurped it from the saucer. The other guests, simply aghast, turned to Emily Post to see how she would handle this horrible gaffe.
No doubt you can guess what she did. She picked up her cup and saucer, poured her coffee from her cup to her saucer, blew on it, and then slurped it from the saucer.
Emily Post once said, “Nothing is less important than which fork you use. Etiquette is the science of living. It embraces everything. It is ethics. It is honor.” She ably demonstrated that evening that it is far more honorable to make someone feel comfortable than to make him feel self-conscious.
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