Drink Etiquettes

 

This incident took place a couple of years ago but i was reminded about again when i visited my friend who was enjoying his daily evening drink.

After a long interactive session which ended late in the evening I was invited to some drinks and later dinner. Being a non drinker I was enjoying my cool fruit juice which as usual I was holding it in my left hand when the organizer brought over two senior managerial staff from a reputed company to talk to me who as usual were holding drinks in their right hand. In my experience this holding drinks in right hand is a norm in most of the parties/functions. While being introduced I offered my hand for a hand shake but strangely the other person first shifted his glass from right to left hand and offered me his damp hand. It was embarrassing for me to take the damp hand but reluctantly I took it and later used my hankie to dry my hand.The other person on seeing this first dried his hand using his hankie and then offered me his hand all the while I was waiting for him. Of course I lost all interest in the conversation with them and they left a poor impression on me..

This incident showed that most of us probably do not know that you neither give a damp hand nor wipe your hand while the other person is holding his hand out for you. We are also not aware of the correct etiquette of shaking hands.The correct etiquette is to hold your drink in your left hand so that you right hand is always free, dry and clean to offer and shake hands with others. But probably we learned the art of drinking but did not learn the art of holding glass properly .

Herd Behaviour

After a long time I received a wedding invitation card, beautifully designed and very appealing. In fact the card struck me as a unique one. In the end of the card on the left hand side it was written RSVP with a name and mobile number.

Nowadays almost all cards whether wedding or birthday or any celebration have this RSVP written. We also use it in our invitations but I do not know how many of us know that in English language there is no abbreviation as RSVP or it has no full English version.

In fact it is short form of a French phrase "Repondz S'il Vous Plait". Meaning reply please . It is therefore expected that the person receiving the invitation will inform the person whether he is attending the function or not and also his meal choice and number of persons.This will help the organizer to plan the function in a better and more organized way. If after accepting the invitation one has a change of plan then again it is expected that you intimate the person.

But this part of the invitation is mostly or almost never followed but the RSVP continues to be printed even by those who never adhered to it in the first place without knowing or understanding its meaning. Typical of herd behaviour.