December 2008
The Archives
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Food
The Dining Experience Part 3: Have odor, will travel
I shouldn’t have to smell your food
One property of food that people often overlook is its odor. The fresh, warm smell of something you really enjoy can lift your spirit unlike anything else in the universe. Unfortunately, the smell of something you don’t really enjoy can often have the opposite effect, bringing you a sense of unpleasantness that can be distracting, revolting, or even vomit-inducing.
In a restaurant—particularly in an overcrowded urban one—there isn’t a whole lot you can do if someone nearby orders something that reeks to high heaven. I’m a[...]
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Customer Service
On Customer Service Part 2: The Greeter
Don’t hire people to say hello. Hire people to help me.
There’s a rising trend in retail stores over the past few years to hire “greeters”—people whose sole job it is to say hello to customers as they enter the store. They may be able to answer a quick question, or point you in the right direction of a product or other employee who can help, but in most cases they are strictly instructed not to leave their posts by the door[...]
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Restroom
Men’s Room Etiquette Part 4: Closed Door = Occupied
Think before you Knock
The vast majority of men’s room stall doors are in an open position by default. In order for those doors to be closed, the door must be pushed closed physically and locked from the inside by the current occupant. Why is it, then, that increasingly[...]
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Elevators
Elevator Etiquette Part 5: Holding the Door
12.08.08 | Permalink | 4 CommentsDon’t be a Nice Guy at Someone Else’s Expense
This is one of those tricky situations where you may think you’re doing a nice thing, but in fact, you’re being rude.
As you get into the elevator, you notice that someone else is making his or her way to the door but will not make it in time. So you either put your hand over the door to block it from closing, or hit the Open Door button inside the elevator, allowing the other person to get in with you.[...]
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Driving
Regarding Driving Part 4: Hills
Step it back
Manual transmissions are dying out faster than the Polar Bear here in the U.S. While automatic cars have dominated here for quite a while, there had until recently always been that niche of driving enthusiasts who insisted that automatics were for wimps.[...]
