Etiquette and the Real Life Survival Guide

The Real Life Survival Guide is gathering for another recording this Sunday. The subject is Etiquette. I remember being taught etiquette by my parents. I also went to refresher course as an adult with my wife. The focus was proper etiquette at formal dinner occasions. I think my wife wanted me polish a few of my social skills. At the final class I made a mistake when cutting my meat. In my defense, I'm usually polite.

Because I help produce RLSG, I wanted to know more about etiquette. Was it something from the past? Had the rudeness of partisan politics and postings on the internet made it obsolete?

I found a few articles on talking about politics at social gatherings and at home. An article published by Reuters advises, "Know your goal. Think about the purpose of the conversation, and whether you should even be having it. Are you seeking information? Advocating a point of view in the hope of changing someone else's mind? Venting frustration?"
http://www.reuters.com/article/2010/10/04/us-etiquette-politics-idUSTRE6931O620101004
Despite knowing deep down that your opinion is truly enlightened, you might want to keep that thought to yourself.

Social Media has etiquette. Reuters published an article on the etiquette of Pinterest.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/02/net-us-etiquette-pinterest-idUSBRE8610IU20120702

The News and Sentinel of Mobile has an article on intersection etiquette. Jim Parker wrote that for many, intersection etiquette was non-existent after last week's big storm.
http://newsandsentinel.com/page/blogs.detail/display/1106/Intersection-etiquette-non-existant.html

The focus of an etiquette class would seem to be important. NY State Senator Marty Golden wanted to teach some of his Brooklyn constituents proper etiquette. Golden's class was pitched as teaching the proper etiquette skills for women to get ahead in the business world. Among the skills the class would teach women to "sit, stand and walk like a model" and how to "walk up and down a stair elegantly,"  The class is being roundly criticized for focusing on the wrong issues. Golden cancelled the class.




You can find out more at CBS news.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-57466407/n.y-sen-marty-golden-cancels-feminine-etiquette-class-after-outrage/

The Real Life Survival Guides program on Etiquette will air on WNPR in a couple of weeks. It airs Sunday at 4:30pm. The shows are also available on-line at the Real Life Survival Guide's website and wnpr.org.

Thank you for your time.

Self Care on Real Life Survival Guide

 The Real Life Survival Guide begins taping this week for season two. The guide will keep its quick back and forth with intelligent guests who have lots to say. This season there's going to be an effort to focus on a particular subject. The first episode in this series will focus on self care.

Self care has become trendy with top ten and top 25 tips. The tips include advice like "stop over thinking", "be still", "eat as many greens as possible" and "forgive yourself and others."

For others, self care is a core issue. I went on-line to find the definition of self care. I came up with this link from an on-line medical dictionary. http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/self-care

The definition has to do with nursing care and occupational therapy.

Number three is pretty basic.

3 personal care accomplished without technical assistance, such as eating, washing, dressing, using the telephone, and attending to one's own elimination, appearance, and hygiene. The goal of rehabilitation medicine is maximal personal self-care.

Mosby's Medical Dictionary, 8th edition. © 2009, Elsevier.

Number three is also an issue with people on the autism spectrum. Setting up a routine with visual cues to help with focus on some basic self-care issues. Basic issues like washing and brushing teeth, dressing, toilet habits and eating. Living Well With Autism has some good visuals to help children learn theses skills.

I went to the Education Resource Information Center to get more information about self-care for autistic children. They suggest systematic, intensive teaching in self-care skills due to deficits in language and attention skills. There are hundreds of scholarly articles about autism and the issue of self care. A lot depends on how early autism is diagnosed and how early treatment begins. The autism spectrum is a pretty broad range. How deeply the person is affected by the disorder has to do with where he or she falls on the spectrum. This the individual's ability to learn and practice self care.   

I have an iron in the fire on this issue. Autism has touched our family. I'm also on the board for the FOCUS Center for Autism. They work with children on the spectrum on socialization skills including self care. With one in 80 children being diagnosed as being on the spectrum, this is an issue that will become more prevalent in the near future.  Something to think about is how we're going to pull together the resources for the services needed to make many of these children functional (holding a job - having a degree of self-sufficiency). Many parents are now facing this on their own with little help from insurance coverage.

Not addressing the issue could result in a tsunami of adults with emotional and behavioral issues on the streets. During the early years of the Reagan administration, federal funding and grants to community clinics were cut. "We can no longer afford to pay for this service."  These clinics dealt with individuals with mental health issues. The result was that many of these people were put on the street. They had  illnesses like schizophrenia. If they were "lucky", they got warehoused in institutions. If "unlucky" many became homeless. There are many more individuals diagnosed with Autism. I realize libertarians and conservatives will cry, "we can't afford this." I suggest as a civilized and progressive society, we're going to need to be proactive. We will need to come together and find solutions. 


The Real Life Survival Guide airs Sunday afternoon at 4:30 on WNPR. You can hear episodes anytime on their website.

DIY Project Could be Deadly

One of the topics that has come up on Bruce Barber's Real Life Survival Guide is The Home Improvement Quandary. How do your prioritize you home improvement projects?

As a weekend warrior who has tackled many projects, there is one I'm glad I never got around to.
We have a tub that was installed in the 70s. I know because it is dark brown. We've often thought about changing the color of the tub rather than replacing it. That would be the green thing to do.  Well, maybe not. There's a stripping chemical that you can buy at the home improvement center that takes off the old finish and allows a new finish to be applied. The caution on the label warns that you need plenty of ventilation. That might be an understatement.

CDC: 13 Deaths Tied To Bath Refinishing Chemical

NPR carried a report last week from the AP that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a warning Thursday about using a common paint-stripping chemical to refinish bathtubs after tying it to 13 deaths in 10 states. All of the deaths were among professional refinishers. Despite the warnings about ventilation, the fumes overcame the workers.