You eat with your elbows on the table, you sneeze without saying “Excuse me,” you speak rudely around people, and you pick at your food. God's in his heaven, and all is right with the world... or is it?

 

Whether you spit on the sidewalk, give a sarcastic roast, or interrupt somebody when he or she is speaking, bad manners can say a lot about what kind of a person you are. You may think that bad manners are normal, and that nobody would notice a few lapses in good manners. Believe it or not, most people are genuinely offended by people who have bad manners and socially unacceptable behavior. Here are some ways to get rid of bad manners.

 

Learn Good Manners Most people get away with bad manners because they don't realize they're guilty of them. The key is to always be conscious and aware of your surroundings. Whether you're alone at home or you're at a social function like a gala dinner, you should always bear good manners in mind (But if you want to avoid social interactions, read 25 ways to avoid all future social interaction).

 

It's never too late to learn good manners, even if you weren't taught by your parents to do so or if you haven't been paying attention to them back in your school days. You may want to attend conduct classes to learn how to behave properly and to present your best to everyone around you.

 

Manners Depend on the Situation “Good manners” doesn't mean lifting your pinky up every time you have a cup of tea, or dressing up to the nines at a dinner party. There are some cases and situations that it's perfectly OK to let your good manners go:

• At a house party, where the host may expect you to “go wild”
• At a fast-food restaurant, where you're expected to eat your food with your hands. (In case you didn't know these are the Top ten most expensive foodstuffs)
• If the host or the establishment does not give you the proper tools to eat something.
• If you're expected to be sarcastic, rude, or brutally honest.

While good manners depend on the situation, there are not too many situations that call for throwing good manners out the window. It's still best to keep your good manners if you're unsure what to do in a situation.

 

Keep Essential Manners in Mind The neat thing about good manners is that you only need to remember just a few of them to get along fine in any situation. Here are five different forms of good manners for five common situations:

 

Manners at Home

Clean up after yourself. Don't expect your helper or other family members to clean up your mess.

Don't enter rooms that are not yours. Respect the privacy of your housemates.

Do your chores. Do your part to keep your house nice and clean.

Say “Please” and “Thank you.”

Share what you have with siblings and other family members.

Manners at the Table

Never chew food with your mouth open.

Don't talk with your mouth full. People will not understand you, and it looks absolutely disgusting.

Use utensils like forks, spoons, and knives properly.

Ask politely for condiments or dishes to be passed to you, instead of leaning over the table.

Get and eat only as much as you can. It's impolite to overeat or eat too little.

Manners on the Phone

Talk in a clear, steady tone. Don't shout or murmur into the phone.

Unless you're out of the house, never allow the phone to ring more than three times. The caller does not like to waste time waiting for you.

Be polite. Say your telephone number, who you are, and ask who's calling.

If the caller is looking for someone who's not around, tell them politely that he or she is not around at the time, and ask if you can take a message.

Never stay on the phone longer than necessary.

Manners When You're Out

Throw your trash at garbage bins. Road gutters and storm drains are not a place for you to throw your trash.

Fall in line. Never cut into a queue.

Let pregnant women, children, and the elderly have your seat on a train or in the bus.

Be respectful when introduced to people for the first time.

Don't talk to strangers.

Manners at School and at the Office

Turn off your cellphone when you're attending a lecture or if you're in an important business meeting.

Always maintain a friendly mood even if you're having a bad day.

Be respectful when addressing classmates, bosses, teachers, and workmates.

Come to work or to class on time.

Respect other people's space and property.

Start Them Early Bad manners can form habits, especially for children. Picking at food or slamming doors can form a nasty habit for some children. Worse is if they learn habits like impoliteness, being disrespectful, or if they start to pick up a few curse-words here and there. The best time to teach people good manners and right conduct is when they're still young. The formative years of a child are a perfect time for them to learn a sense of right and wrong, and to pick up patterns of good behavior. School can teach them a lot about good manners, as well as good behavior at home and outside the home.

 

Set a Good Example Instead of pointing out lapses in manners like you're part of the “Manners Police,” the best way to spread good manners around is to set a good example for behavior. You don't have to come across as a prissy and uptight goody-goody fancy two-shoes to be a good example for good manners and right conduct. All you need to do is to always act with your best manners, and soon people will follow suit.

 

Good manners doesn't have to be automatic or mechanical. If you maintain and make an effort to display good manners, people around you will do the same. After all, the best way to get rid of bad manners is to start behaving with good manners.