While most people in the world believe that style and etiquette is constantly evolving, the truth is style and etiquette remains the same - the core of kindness, the true meaning of consideration never changes. It's people who evolve. Our society puts an emphasis, at times, on being "honest" or on being "independent", or on being "real". No matter which direction seems to be the new fad, we keep circling back to realizing that being nice is a good thing. Fad that work are ones where we "do unto others", utilize our "village", "pay it forward". Different references, same core definition. Being kind, considerate and aware of others never goes out of style. It never becomes old news or "so yesterday".

As for my articles on style and etiquette, I try very hard to stay at the core of what it takes to make sure that society stays aware of its surroundings. Therefore, 99% of my articles focus on what a person should consider and do when, say, attending a wedding or a funeral or a party or your child's school. It's a positive, "do this" type of direction, as opposed to "don't" do this. My second grade teacher, Mrs. Regular of SE Portland at Oliver P. Lent School, always said "remember" as opposed to "don't forget". She worked hard on us second graders to hear what we were supposed to do rather than what we were NOT supposed to do. It was a positive reinforcement which I try to duplicate when I can. Rather than saying don't do this and don't do that, I think readers better understand and carry out recommendations consisting of what you should do in a situation.

For the next couple of articles, however, I'm going to mix it up and stray from the norm. Two years ago I wrote an article called The Rotten Host. It came to fruition after attending two parties where the host was so appalling and so awful it was almost comical. The tongue in cheek article titled the Rotten Host, to this day, is one of my top five most read articles. I think it's funny that I have many articles on what "to do" as a host but the one most of my readers are drawn to is the one where I talk about all the things you shouldn't do. Capitalizing on the success in this particular article, I decided to switch gears and write a few articles about what "not to do". Taking this queue, I will write the next six articles on what a "Rotten Guest" will do at a party, at dinner, as a house guest, as the dinner host, at Thanksgiving and at Christmas.

You can read the original "Rotten Host" here