Cranky Fibro Girl

Harnessing the healing power of snark

  • Home
  • Resources
  • Blog
  • You Know You Have Fibro If…
  • Cranky Fibro Girl Manifesto
  • Contact
  • About

Emily Post, Where Are You?

October 27, 2005 By Jenny Ryan Leave a Comment

While I wouldn’t say that I am highly skilled in all forms of social etiquette, I feel like I at least cover the basics pretty well.

I hand write all of my thank-you notes, making sure to mention by name the item I received, as well as specifically discuss how I am using it in my life. When I am invited to dinner, I ask the hosts what I can bring. When we have company I make sure there are clean sheets and towels, as well as lots of toilet paper in the guest bathroom.

So I usually navigate the waters of social interaction with fairly minimal turbulence. But this weekend I found myself in a situation that pushed my abilities in the social graces to the edge.

My husband and I were invited to be the first dinner guests at the new home of some friends. After presenting them with a housewarming mum and taking a tour of their new place, we sat down to dinner. Once again, I thought I was doing pretty well. Napkin in the lap? Check. Elbows off the table? Check. Not talking with my mouth full? Check.

Apparently I need to pay a lot less attention to these pesky minor details, and a lot more attention to what is going on around me. Because when I finally returned from my little self-congratulatory tour and tuned back in, I realized that the entire table was caught up in a heated discussion involving chimpanzee sex, and its’ biological and ethical implications for all of humankind. And I had no idea what to do.

I felt exactly the same way I did when I was conducting one of my first coaching sessions, and the client mentioned a situation with which I was completely unfamiliar. I was mentally rifling through all of my various manuals in a frantic search for help thinking, “That’s not in here!”

Just to double check I went to the bookstore today and consulted with some of the authorities on etiquette to see what they might have to say about this situation. While I did not find anything that specifically addressed the topic of chimpanzee sex, I did find these helpful conversational-related tidbits.

From Letitia Baldridge: Bad Conversational Moves

Discussing how our society is going to hell. (Good to know).

“So, is it true that your child has________ (fill in the blank with a disease or condition that is life-threatening, and/or has a giant stigma attached to it)?” (Um, are we really at the point where we need a book to tell us that this comment is inappropriate?)

From Miss Manners: Conversation Starters

Dear Miss Manners: What do you consider a good conversational opener?

Gentle Reader: Almost anything except, “I’ve been on a wonderful journey of self-discovery lately, and I’d like to share it with you.”

So now, of course, I totally want to use that in my next conversation. Who’s up for a chat? Anyone…Anyone…?

Filed Under: CFG Loves Things Wordy, People Say The Funniest Things, Playing Well With Others Tagged With: etiquette, manners

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Cranky Fibro Girl News And Updates

* indicates required
Check here to get blog posts by email as well.
Email Format
fibromyalgia best blogs badge
fibromyalgia best blogs badge
Healthline
16 Best Fibromyalgia Blogs of 2014
Healthline
fibromyalgia blogs

Pages

  • Contact
  • Home
  • My Podcasts
  • Resources
  • Blog
  • You Know You Have Fibro If…
  • Cranky Fibro Girl Manifesto
  • My Story
  • About
  • Contact

Archives

Categories

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

Logo designed by Calyx Design

Copyright © 2025 Jenny Dinsmore Ryan