Social etiquette that you can never figure out.

ballsymchugh · 22-12-2010 1:33am

nudist wrote: »

+ 1

Almost all the old people i know are grade A Assholes. I imagine it must have something to do with their values-what was life like in ireland in the 1950's for example? The only thing i can think of is a few scenes from Angelas Ashes.

funny you should say that, i know a fair amount of young people about that are nothing short of obnoxious pricks.

MrStuffins · 22-12-2010 1:35am

The respecting your elders thing is just a way for older people to make sure their kids dont answer them back. I'll be the same with my kids!

I bloody hate old people! They think because they're older they have some kind of entitlement!

Aldito · 22-12-2010 1:36am

If you're on the phone to a foreigner/someone who you have trouble understanding, how many times to do you say "sorry?" before you just give up and pretend you understand them?

fedor.2. · 22-12-2010 1:39am

Aldito wrote: »

If you're on the phone to a foreigner/someone who you have trouble understanding, how many times to do you say "sorry?" before you just give up and pretend you understand them.

3 and 3 only

PandyAndy · 22-12-2010 1:48am

stupidusername wrote: »

Apparently I'm not good at being social in general. Dunno what it is. I've been told I'm really quiet when I've just been like am you're at my house, we're friends, we're watching tv, we're just hangin out, I don't need to be your entertainment... :rolleyes:

but then maybe I just don't know all that many people on the same wavelength as me.

+1.

I hate talking to people I don't really know. Never really find anything intertesting to talk about. Always ends up about the weather "Jaysus, it's wicked cold out isn't it?". Or about that stupid fúcking football game I couldn't care less about.

Superbus · 22-12-2010 1:55am

MrStuffins wrote: »

I bloody hate old people! They think because they're older they have some kind of entitlement!

'Cos IIIIIIII wanna beeeeeee anarchyyyy.

koHd · 22-12-2010 2:03am

The whole making tea for visitors. I don't drink tea yet I'm expected to stock it and make it when you pop over.

pablomakaveli · 22-12-2010 2:14am

I find it the most awkward social interactions are with people you were friends with long ago such as ones from school that you haven't seen in a very long time. I never know whether to say hello or not because maybe they mighnt want to talk or maybe they're thinking the same thing.

Also eye contact, do i make eye contact with people on the street or not. What if im walking up a street or road and theres only one person walking toward me, should i avoid eye contact.

Basically i'm a bit awkward with social etiqeutte. I tend to overthink it too much.

Ficheall · 22-12-2010 2:31am

Duffy the Vampire Slayer wrote: »

... If I acknowledge them and they dont recognize me then I look like a creep. If I dont and they recognize me then I look like a prick.

I don't think that has anything to do with whether you ackowledge them or not. You just look like a creepy prick.

Rowley Birkin QC · 22-12-2010 3:07am

I'm in my mid 20s so when girls in my social circle have gotten pregnant I haven't known whether to congratulate or commiserate.

CharlesHaughey · 22-12-2010 3:12am

fulhamfanincork wrote: »

Do I sit up front or in the back of a taxi if i am the only passenger?

If you travel by limo you sit at the back.

Novella · 22-12-2010 3:14am

Ya know when you're in a shop, and the person serving you says, "Hi, how are you?". I always say, "I'm good, thanks! How are you?" and then they seem kinda taken aback and surprised. Is the 'how are you' question in a shop not one you're meant to answer or something?

Duffy the Vampire Slayer · 22-12-2010 3:29am

koHd wrote: »

The whole making tea for visitors. I don't drink tea yet I'm expected to stock it and make it when you pop over.

I love tea but also dislike this because I dont like having tea made for me. I like tea best the way I make it myself and would gladly do so but people insist on doing it for me. They usually make it too weak or put too much milk in

Handshakes are another thing I dont get. To me they're just a form of greeting but some people take them so seriously, insisting that you have to have a firm handshake... Why

Duffy the Vampire Slayer · 22-12-2010 3:31am

Ficheall wrote: »

I don't think that has anything to do with whether you ackowledge them or not. You just look like a creepy prick.

Im always unsure how to react to good-natured insults.

kylith · 22-12-2010 3:34am

up for anything wrote: »

It's much easier for the taxi driver when he pulls out his gun to put it to the side of your head but then again, if you sit in the back the child locks get you. It's a lose lose etiquette situation.

I always sit in the back cos I figure I'll have a chance to kick the windows out if I need to escape.

melekalikimaka · 22-12-2010 3:35am

these threads really drag odd the odd balls.

The_Minister · 22-12-2010 3:44am

melekalikimaka wrote: »

these threads really drag odd the odd balls.

I was expecting more posts along the lines of: "I can never figure out when to take the one piece of X left on the tray", not "I gave up on all social outlets many moons ago; I now have a giant posters of Boards avatars in my room".

Lady von Purple · 22-12-2010 3:44am

PandyAndy wrote: »

+1.

Always ends up about the weather "Jaysus, it's wicked cold out isn't it?". Or about that stupid fúcking football game I couldn't care less about.

So, eh... How 'bout that local sports team? Me, I'm short-sighted so my big problem is 'that looks like my friend... it is, isn't it? maybe it's not. okay, stop looking in case it's not him. now look again, then look at something else so it looks like I'm just looking around and not at him. ah, it is him! Okay, no, that's a woman.'

Mr Marston · 22-12-2010 4:17am

Lady von Purple wrote: »

So, eh... How 'bout that local sports team? Me, I'm short-sighted so my big problem is 'that looks like my friend... it is, isn't it? maybe it's not. okay, stop looking in case it's not him. now look again, then look at something else so it looks like I'm just looking around and not at him. ah, it is him! Okay, no, that's a woman.'

Yeah, the short-sightedness really messes me up. I used to go down to the field where my group of mates would usually hang out. I'd cross the field, walking directly at them, only to realise about 10 metres away that it was a different set of people.

Then it becomes a question of what to do next? I can't just stop dead, turn around and walk away. I usually just altered my path slightly, missed them to the left of the right by a few metres, mutter some sort of greeting, and continue on towards an estate on the far side of the field.

Sometimes, I would have to do quite the lap in order to return to my house, or wherever my friends might be.

Lady von Purple · 22-12-2010 4:49am

I've done the course-altering, but I never mutter any sort of greeting- more of a smile-grimace. Or, you realise you're walking the wrong way, like you've walked past the shop you wanted to go to, but now people have seen you walk past it, so you stop at the window of the nearest shop, hmmm and haw over the window display for a minute and then turn back. Oh, and I'm from the country so there's also waving etiquette. You don't wave at people you see on the road- even strangers- where I'm from, you're obviously a bitch. You wave at random people in dublin, you're a nutjob. (I'm not talking full-on waving now, just like a nod or a slightly raised hand. It's a country thing, I think.)

Tigger · 22-12-2010 4:53am

fulhamfanincork wrote: »

Do I sit up front or in the back of a taxi if i am the only passenger?

front unless yer a poncer

Rockery Woman · 22-12-2010 5:22am

Social Etiquette I cant figure out:

Girls going to the loo in gangs (personally I prefer to pee alone).

Tipping in restaurants when there is a service charge.

People saying "how are you?" then legging it!:D

Blitzkrieger · 22-12-2010 9:51am

Novella wrote: »

Is the 'how are you' question in a shop not one you're meant to answer or something?

No. I used to have a similar problem when I lived in London. It took me a while to get used to the way they'd greet people asking "You all right?". Especially since my job at the time involved lifting a heavy lawnmower over railings to mow ****ty little strips of greens while wearing a heavy jumper over my sunburned arms in the wilting midday sun. It's quite possible I looked like I was about to have a heart attack....

Gary4279 · 22-12-2010 9:52am

I don't get why most women wont approach a guy they like.

I also don't get why a lot of women will brandish a guy a pervert if he approaches them.

PCPhoto · 22-12-2010 10:18am

MrStuffins wrote: »

Standing in a lift with a stranger....... do you talk? Do you not? Do you look them in the eye?

Also, if I fart, how hard would it be to convince them it wasn't me?

I usually go with asking " Did you do that? " ...."no.... must have been me then !"

or fake disgust blaming someone who was on the elevator earlier (assuming fartage occurred on entry to the elevator)

NoDice · 22-12-2010 10:41am

What to do when meeting someone you know but haven't seen in months or maybe years. Their first question is usually "any news?". I tend to automatically switch on the sarcasm and say something awkward to kill the conversation..

On a slightly different note I also never know what to do in the following situation:

*walking down the street and get stopped by friend*

Me: God haven't seen you in ages!
Friend: Ya I -
Me: Oh my god you look great I didn't know you were pregnant!!!
Friend: .........I'm not.......

*tumble weed*

Always do it!!

:o

senordingdong · 22-12-2010 10:50am

NoDice wrote: »

What to do when meeting someone you know but haven't seen in months or maybe years. Their first question is usually "any news?". I tend to automatically switch on the sarcasm and say something awkward to kill the conversation..

On a slightly different note I also never know what to do in the following situation:

*walking down the street and get stopped by friend*

Me: God haven't seen you in ages!
Friend: Ya I -
Me: Oh my god you look great I didn't know you were pregnant!!!
Friend: .........I'm not.......

*tumble weed*

Always do it!! :o

Even worse when they tell you it's yours.

potsy11 · 22-12-2010 11:08am

Duffy the Vampire Slayer wrote: »

Handshakes are another thing I dont get. To me they're just a form of greeting but some people take them so seriously, insisting that you have to have a firm handshake... Why

i believe Handshakes are very important. A firm handshake tells you alot about the person you are dealing with. A weak handshake tells me you are lacking in confidence, the temperature of your hand tells me if you are nervous to meet me, the direction you place you hand tells me if we are equal, if you think i am superior or if you think i am inferior to you.

All alpha males will have a strong handshake and look you in the eye while shaking your hand.

Or

It could all be BS!

22-12-2010 11:18am

Is it weird to tell a girl if her thong is halfway up her back, or if her tights are tucked into her underwear? You then have to explain why you were looking.

Eye contact when talking is a bit tough - if you do too much of it, you're weird, if you do too little, you're rude.

curlzy · 22-12-2010 11:20am

potsy11 wrote: »

i believe Handshakes are very important. A firm handshake tells you alot about the person you are dealing with. A weak handshake tells me you are lacking in confidence, the temperature of your hand tells me if you are nervous to meet me, the direction you place you hand tells me if we are equal, if you think i am superior or if you think i am inferior to you.

All alpha males will have a strong handshake and look you in the eye while shaking your hand.

Or

It could all be BS!

I think it's BS, I'm very confident but I hate having the hand wrung off me so I only ever lightly grip when I'm shaking hands.

Social etiquette that you can never figure out.

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