5 New Social Manners for 2009

So here I am again, yes with my 2 cent on social manners. With the advent technology such as cell phones and in-car televisions, folks have lost their manners. I mean, come on, the whole "loud-mouthed" cell phone conversations in the bank has simply got to stop. All that being said, here is my list of the "New Social Manners for 2009."


1. Proper use of your cell phone in public places.
We are all guilty of being on a call when our turn comes up in line to pay for something. But for goodness sake folks, HANG UP THE DAMN PHONE! It is abundantly rude to hold a conversation while transacting business at a counter, check-stand, or cashier. You are distracted and more than likely smack-dead in the middle of a verbiage storm that will likely discombobulate the clerk and cause your transaction to run pass the allotted time allowed. Thus, making all the people behind you, increasingly irritated for having to wait for you to get your $%^* together and pay. Get a clue and hang up the phone.

Another inappropriate place to continue your public cell phone banter is in an elevator. It is exceedingly painful to be trapped in an elevator- albeit for only 45 seconds- with a trap flapping moron blasting you out in a 3X3 box. If you find yourself in a conversation you simply cannot end at the exact moment you are to enter an elevator, simply ask the trap- flapper on the other end to hold for one moment while you courteously ride the elevator. I am certain they would understand and it won't kill either of you to put your "gab fest" on hold for a short spell.

2. Don't be a line humper.

Where has personal space gone? Are you one of those bozos that stands 4 inches away from the person in front of you in a line? I have found that more and more people find it absolutely ok to be less than 1 foot away from me while standing in line to pay for something. This is ridiculous people! Here's the deal, I'm up at the cashier ready to pay. I select "debit" as my means of payment. Obviously I don't want the shmoe behind me eyeballing my pin while I type it in. For goodness sake if you find that you are less than 1 foot away from the person in front of you in a line, STEP BACK! Quit humping people in lines! Give people the respect of some normal personal space while in public! Especially if your "flapping your trap or being flapped at."! Who wants to feel your breath on the back of their necks!

3. Facebook and MySpace Etiquette

This one goes for guys and gals alike. Please by all means, don't retain a collection of exes in your friends on either sites. If your are in a serious relationship, this kind of "in your face" cyber faux pas makes for a very awkward situations. Oh and don't give me that "oh my girl/guy doesn't care" crap. THEY DO! Keep your past in your past and don't flaunt it to your new squeeze by herding your exes on your Facebook or MySpace pages. Besides, they're exes, they lost their rank in your life, so get 'em out of there!

4. E-mail Forwarding to your friends

I will be the first to admit- I have a lot of friends with whom I communicate mostly through email. But that doesn't mean I bombard them with stupid forwarded emails. Yeah, you know what I'm talking about and you know who you are.  You are that one friend that insists on forwarding all those sappy prayers that require the reader to continue the cycle of madness or God will smite you! Or are you the person that thinks every joke is hilarious so you must send it out into the wild blue yonder? And don't let me get started on the 50,000 forwards that display the previous 10,000 recipients stacked so far that you are scrolling for 10 minutes before you get to the actual message. Here's a newsflash: No one's phone ever rings after forwarding to 10 people. No money flies out the sky once you hit "send." Those kids aren't really missing. And God probably won't zap you if you delete that email. In a nutshell- those chain emails SUCK! Be the first to stop the cycle of madness and just hit...wait for it.....wait for it.... DELETE! See how good that felt?

5. Appropriate cell phone usage with inappropriate language in public places.

Let's keep item #1 in mind and assume you are not in any of those places, but are in an situation, where people are around and it's ok for you and everyone else to be chatting away. What is not ok is for you or anyone else to be speaking 100 decibels above normal levels. There is nothing more annoying than to be within a 15 foot radius of a yelling cell phone user. Oh and let's not go one more level up- the cusser! Yes you read it correctly, a yelling and cussing cell phone fool! Why do people think it is ok to be rude and not only yell on the phone in public venues, but to curse like sailors too? To curse out loud and blast the people nearby is the pinnacle of rudeness. And ladies, ladies, ladies, why are you cursing and being loud and belligerent on the phone in public? And you wonder why you can't meet a good man. Express some form of decorum, be courteous enough save your profanity for home and more private places.

Once again, this is just my 2 cents. So, Read it, Learn it, Live it, Love it. Or hate it. But thanks for reading!

Image borrowed from www.dearsugar.com

6 New Rules for Black People

Okay, I'm sure the first thing one notices when they come to my blog is that I'm quite a fair skinned maiden. You might even be wondering if I am, in fact, black and if it's politically correct for me to be posting a blog like this. Well, the answer is- Yes! I am lucky enough to be black! So, now you may read on free from perceived offense.

New Rules for Black People!
(History has been made with Barack Obama capturing the White House, so now it's time for black folks, to bring it up a notch! I've put my 2 cents in on some things I think we black folks should change.)

1. Stop calling your classy and educated friends and acquaintances Bourgeios (Boo-zhee)
For as long as I can remember black folks have refered others who live at a particular level of comfort- bourgeios- with the pronunciated shown above. What is wrong with wanting more in life? What's wrong with enjoying fine dining, the opera, classical music and wine? Why must upwardly moblie black people be vilified for being such? This is a new era in America and The Obama's have officially made it okay for black folks to be educated and wealthy and not be labeled bourgeios as a negative connotation. Get over it folks!

2. It is no longer cute,funny, or endearing to use the "N" word.
This is such a debated subject among black folks. But my 2 cents says it's time to nix the N word and all variations of it. A derogatory word DOES NOT EVOLVE people. Do you hear white people calling one another crackers as a term of endearment? NO! So, look y'all....just let it go. Oh and ladies that love to spew out that term, newsflash: It's really quite ugly. Let's elevate our mentalities by removing all terms that cease to build each other up! What happened to us calling each other brother and sister?

3. Black Blonde's are not Natural- cut it out!
Yes, I'm talking to you my beautiful cocoa complexion sister with that Marilyn Monroe eye-piercing blonde mane. Black blonde's are not naturally occuring in nature, it's really kind of creepy on some people. It's time to fall back in love with being a natural beautiful black woman!

4. Pants that are 3 sizes too big and sagging isn't cute on 30+ year-old men!
I know being black is naturally "hip" and "cool." We're trendsetters by nature. But guys, once you hit 30, buy pants in your correct size and pull them up on your butt. Come on guys, is showing your boxers really sexy? No, it's stupidest look out there now. You're a gourgeous black man and once you hit 30, you should dress like a grown man. Wearing pants that look like denim potatoe sacks is just plane ole silly looking.

5. Shut your pie-holes (mouths) in the movie theater.
I'm so over all the loud-mouthed movie goers. Oddly enough, most of the time it's black folks. That is one of the biggest true stereo-types(oxymoron, I know) out there. Shut up people. Here's the deal: You are in a public place and it is rude to behave like you are at home in your living room. You should not talk to the characters on screen in your loudest voice. It's rude and inconsiderate to everyone else in the theater. Your movie-going crassness is not appreciated. It's time to learn some manners, because guess what? It's not all about you!

6. It's time to retire the "conspiracy theories."
All those stories about the creation of AIDS to wipe us out, and drug distribution to do us in, are all getting really old! All the talk about how "they" are out to get us and have orchestrated all this stuff to do black folks in, is no longer productive. Let's just say that all those "conspiracy theories" are, in fact, true. My question is what are we doing about it? What are the solutions to these issues. AIDS is here, so now it's time to talk about how to stop spreading it. Drugs is rampant, here and in other countries. So, now we need to educate our children to keep them away from drugs. It's time to stop spreading the dispair of all these theories about the mysterious "they" and how they've conspired to "get" us, and start talking about solutions. We can not change the past, so now we must focuse on solutions. Get over the conspiarcies folks, and start focusing on the future!


As the Blog's title indicates, this is just my 2 cents. Read it. Learn it. Live it. Love it. Or hate it. But thanks for reading!

Pictured, Disney's first Black Princess Maddy.