Of course, we've now become so accustomed to being able to break into others' phone conversations that a busy signal often comes across as a slap in the face. Martin despises it and disparages its promulgation of a ""last-come, first-served'' ethic. No matter how cool you think you look.Ĭall waiting, another modern convenience, can furrow the brow of even the most composed manner maven. ""There is a basic rule: you don't disturb people,'' says Martin. Turn it off during meetings and-please, ""gentle reader''-don't wield it at restaurant tables or other conspicuous public places. Miss Manners has produced no fewer than eight books on etiquette, including her ""Guide for the Turn-of-the-Millennium.'' Some of her tips:Ī cellular phone is not ""a passport into an etiquette-free zone,'' says Miss Manners. This, of course, is good news for arbiters of decorum like Martin. But this does not mean stepping backward to a more genteel age: politesse has to keep redefining itself, and never more so than in the current age of high-tech communications, which offer modes of insult and intrusion our ancestors never knew. Lately the barbarian hordes have enjoyed the upper hand, says Martin, and she thinks we're ready for a return to civility. The forces of courtesy and crudity wage a constant battle, with the advantage swinging from one side to the other. Martin is better known by her nom de plume, Miss Manners-although to hear her tell it, it's more like a nom de guerre. ""I'm hopeful for the future,'' she says, ""because I assume it will be accompanied by a resurgence in the use of manners.''
IF YOU HAD ONE WISH for the third millennium, what would it be? A cure for today's killer diseases? Five hundred channels of digital television? Abolition of the designated-hitter rule? Judith Martin has other ideas.
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