When a gentleman encounters an acquaintance who greets him with: "Hi. How are you?"...
He does not say:
"Actually, I'm having a lousy day. My car's in the shop, and I had to take the dog to the vet. What's worse I'm behind on my house payment and my girlfriend left me."
or
"What's it to you?"
But he does say:
"Fine How about you?"
In casual discourse, there are few questions that do not require an answer. This is one of them. Even on his worst days, a gentleman does not stop traffic on the sidewalk so that he can share his woes with an acquaintance who merely intended to say something a little more expansive than a simple "Hello."
He does not say:
"Actually, I'm having a lousy day. My car's in the shop, and I had to take the dog to the vet. What's worse I'm behind on my house payment and my girlfriend left me."
or
"What's it to you?"
But he does say:
"Fine How about you?"
In casual discourse, there are few questions that do not require an answer. This is one of them. Even on his worst days, a gentleman does not stop traffic on the sidewalk so that he can share his woes with an acquaintance who merely intended to say something a little more expansive than a simple "Hello."
excerpt from: As a Gentleman Would Say
No comments:
Post a Comment