HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 1988-04-20, Page 13�J
Are good manners necessary
by Shell Gollan
"Use yo :r fork, don't eat with your
fingers, where are your manners?" I bet
that you've heard this time and again.
Usually we think t rn rselves, "Is it really
worth the bother?" t "What's the use of
saying 'please' or 'thank you' anyway?"
and "Wh are we going to be in a fancy
place to use good etiquette?" How many of
you boys out there open a door for the
girls?
Etiquette is a code of behavior to help
people get along with each other. It in-
cludes more than just strict rules — it
simply means good manners.
As people began to spend more time with
each other, they learned to behave in ways
that made life easier and more pleasant.
Manners that resulted were for practical
reasons. To illustrate, ,a man takes off his
right glove to shake hands today because
in medieval times the hand that wore a
glove often concealed a knife and the offer
to shake hands could mean sudden death
instead of friendliness. It is still a gesture
of friendship, but of course not for this
reason.
In times past m England, people would
sometimes throw their garbage out of the
top windows. So when a man and lady were
. walking, the man was supposed to walk on
the street side of the sidewalk in case of
flying rubbish. Surely, no one does that to-
day, but a man should still walk to the
lady's left.
Much of today's etiquette originates
from the French Royal Court in the 1600's
and the 1700's. The nobles of the court did •
not work so they developed customs simp-
ly to avoid becoming .bored. They drew up
a list of proper rules of conduct and called
it an "etiquette": This word came from an
old French word meaning "ticket". This
code soon spread throughout the world.
The first known guide to courteous
behavior was written by a high govern-
ment official in ancient Egypt', It was writ-
ten about 2400 years before Christ's birth.
Since theWhere have been lots of books on
the subject.
Each culture has its own system of eti-
quette and manners. For example, in
Japan you take off your shoes before enter-
ing a house, but in the United States you
would be considered impolite if you remov-
ed your shoes. That is, unless you have
mud on your shoes and this obviously
would be in poor taste to track it in.
In some areas of Central and Southern
America you are expected to leave a little
food on your plate to show your hostess
that you are full and satisfied. If you clean
off your plate you'll find more in front of
you as they think you are still hungry.
Here it is most impolite not to finish the
meal you have been given or taken.
If you were invited to a meal in Den-
mark, the hostess would expect you to br-
ing a gift of flowers.
In Greece everyone will offer you a cup
of coffee, even the shopkeeper who sells it
to you. It is a point of etiquette not just to
gulp it down and leave, but you must wait
until the cup gets cold.
It is not polite to take a picture of a Mex-
ican without asking his permission first. .
Now listen to this one! In Russia, men
and women have separate beaches,
although they are side by side with a high,
board fence between them. On the
women's beach they wear absolutely
nothing except hats, but etiquette requires
that when they go swimming they must put
on a bathing suit.
You must never be late for a meal in
Sweden, if you want to show good
manners.
In some countries burping shows that
you've really enjoyed the meal but it cer-
tainly would be frowned upon here in
Canada.
These are just a few of the many rules of
etiquette but, whether it's picking up the
. right fork or knowing the proper way to
greet a very important person, all man-
ners make sense because they tell you
what to do and what is expected of you.
I'm sure you'Il agree that the best part
about manners and proper etiquette is that
they make you a nicer person to be around
regardless of where you are.
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Michael deBoer
The Lucknow Central - Page 3
--Explanation of an eclipse—
by
cIipse—
by Jamie Wyndham
Grade 7
A long time ago, there was a god named
Apollo. Apollo was the god of the sun and
since the sun was always shining Apollo
could never get any sleep. Apollo was
arguing with the gods about why he
couldn't have a nap in the daytime and
they could. Apollo kept on arguing and the
gods started to get tired of it so they finnal-
ly let him have a nap.
Apollo went and had a nap but it wasn't
dark .enough so he couldn't sleep. Apollo
went back to the gods and complained that
it wasn't dark enough. All of the gods tried
to think of a way to make it dark so that
Apollo could have a nap but none of their
ideas were very practical.
So Zeus, King of gods went down to earth
to ask some people if they knew any ways
of making it dark for Apollo. They had no
suggestions either except for one wise old
man who suggested that if Zeus threw a
lightning bolt hard enough at the moon, the
moon would move in front of the sun and
block the light from reaching earth and
Apollo's palace.
Zeus threw a lightning bolt at the moon
but the moon didn't even move. So all of
the gods tried again to think of a way to
make it dark. Then one god suggested that
if they got all of the gods and goddesses
together and pushed the moon in front of
the sun it would make it dark.
So Zeus golf of the gods and goddesses
together anon/ley pushed the moon in front
of the sun which made it dark everywhere
even in Apollo's palace and on earth. now
Apollo could have a nap because it was
dark in his palace.
Whenever we have an eclipse of the
moon it means that the gods and goddesses
are pushing the moon in front of the sun so
it could be dark and Apollo could have a
nap.
The Bunny Who Slept In
Once upon a time there was a little bun-
ny his name was Cotton Tail. He always
slept in. His mommy called. but he didn't
wake up. The next morning he didn't wake
up again. One day his mommy got him an
alarm clock. Then the next morning the
alarm clock went off at 8:00 o'clock and it
woke him up. And the bunny never slept in
again. George Carter, Grade 3.
Heather Askes
Mrs. e!1
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