Comments on: SP Hit List: P. Elegance

By: BE NICE! « LA Gossip Girls

BE NICE! « LA Gossip Girls — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 16:07:26 +0000

[...] date. Read on to the article below that inspired me to write about my bad date in Social Primer. SP Hit List: P. Elegance | Social Primer Have you ever been dining in a restaurant and some member of your party makes everyone at the table [...]

By: Social Climber: Lend a Helping Hand

Social Climber: Lend a Helping Hand — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 20:54:05 +0000

[...] all ripped away. This can happen when the head swells, the nose points upward and the condition of Piss Elegance takes over the body’s molecular structure. Pride does go before the fall. Always be humble, [...]

By: Social Primer » Think Before You Leap

Social Primer » Think Before You Leap — Wed, 06 May 2009 21:11:53 +0000

[...] into the air in an affectation of class that no one of real class ever affects. I have written of piss elegance before as it is one of the biggest sins against civility. Be yourself. Never pretend that you are [...]

By: SP

SP — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 23:17:07 +0000

Dear Sarah,
The general rule with staff whether you are on the working end or on the guest side is this. Be friendly, but not familiar. This keeps the civil distance needed to move things along pleasantly and respectfully. Afterall, your friend is there to converse with you and your table mates, not the waitstaff. She should pull it in just a bit. But let her discover this on her own, it is not our place to tell her. Perhaps you could redirect her and pull focus to you by changing the subject or asking a well-timed question.
Coridally,
SP

By: sarah

sarah — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 22:21:14 +0000

I very much enjoyed this dialogue. I have been with someone who did this, and it is mortifying.
Everyone sort of cringes and then is overly nice to the staff from that point on.
My question is what to do with the reverse problem. We have very good friends and the wife of this couple is so overly friendly to the waiters and engages them for many, many, minutes at an almost uncomfortable level. I feel I am always at a “hi, I’m Frank your server”, restaurant. It isn’t impolite I guess but on the other hand it is kind of snobbish in it’s own way. I would love to hear from someone regarding this issue.