Tipping a waiter

You go to a restaurant and the waiter takes your order. He/she comes back right away with your drinks and your selected items on the menu. They come back several times asking how everything is and if you need anything. If something is needed the go and bring it back in a blink of an eye. You pay your bill and then what? You leave a tip. It is just how things are. If a waiter takes “good care of you” you leave 15%-20% of your bill amount there just lying on the table for them to take. It is an unwritten rule to make sure that if the waiter at a restaurant was good to leave a tip. There is no little fine print at the bottom of the receipt that states “Must leave tip” but people do. If a tip is not left for the waiter they assume you’re a jerk or the waiter sucks. You just have to leave a tip if the waiter was good.  

Restaurant etiquette

We learn this from our parents. I remember when I was younger and loved to pinch the top of the straw and bring the liquid out of the cup and then drink it. But I soon enough learned that it was not polite, my parents made sure of that. There is no sign at Red Lobster or any other nice restaurant that states:

No playing with food

No eating with your hands

Talking with your mouth full

No loud burping

No talking on cell phones

But it is engraved into our minds as small children that this behavior is NOT okay. Restaurant etiquette is a rule that was put into place silently/unsaid and unwritten. If these rules are broken the couple across the dining room will stare you down and look in disbelief. This is an unwritten rule in society.

Appearance

Personal appearance is a big thing in our society I think that we can all agree on this. It seems like a lot of people these days just go right to judging you as a person by what you dress yourself with. Now I know that not all these rules apply to every person in the world BUT in today’s society I feel that it has become an unwritten rule to try to look good. People don’t just walk out of the house thinking I hope I look terrible today. Although every person’s personal opinion what looks good is different we all try to dress, in some manner, “fashionable”. How we dress can make a person come to a conclusion about the kind of person you are. It has become an unwritten rule that you dress how you are, or want to be perceived by others.

Shopping Carts

Great its grocery day, the worst shopping experience you’ll have to do all week. So the normal person would walk in, grab a cart, and make their way around the store grabbing the things they need off the shelves. As you are doing this it doesn’t even cross your mind but this is an unwritten rule in society, yes grabbing thing off the shelf. How often have you seen someone walk by a cart, which does not belong to them, and take something out of it? Yah that’s what I thought, not very often. It is looked down upon to take things out of others carts. Yes I know that you don’t want to walk all the way across the store to grab something, and the person next to you has that object you need but still you make your way across the store to retrieve it. Don’t take things out of other peoples carts!

Elevators

There are rules in which people follow in elevators whether you know it or not. For example, if there are only two or three people on an elevator, each person usually leans against the walls. If a fourth person boards the elevator, the four corners are normally occupied. This would be because of our personal “space.” When someone is to close in an elevator people usually will feel very uncomfortable and get off at the next stop and wait for the next elevator or use the stairs “if any”. When there are more than four people on an elevator, the boarders begin to follow a set of rules for behavior. Everyone turns to face the door. Hands and belongings hang down in front of the body. People usually scrunch up, rounding their shoulders, so that they take up as little space as possible. If you see an overcrowded elevator, you will probably choose to wait for the next one. Eye contact is a huge rule in an elevator; people don’t look at each other they typically look at the floor indicator found above the door. If you think this is exaggerated, the next time you are on an elevator, don’t face the door turn around and face toward the other people, or sit down. Then see what their reaction is.