Northwestern Press

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Respectfully Yours: Bad manners

Friday, September 6, 2019 by JACQUELYN YOUST Special to The Press in Focus

Dear Jacquelyn,

Is it ever alright to point out another person’s poor manners?

Dear Reader,

There are several answers to this question.

It depends on whose manners you want to correct. If it is your child, then naturally you should correct their poor manners.

If it is a co-worker or boss, tread carefully.

But if you want to correct a good friend, think twice. Only consider it if you feel it will benefit them, then do it privately and gently.

Generally speaking, pointing out another person’s bad manners is bad manners and simply unwise.

Everyone makes etiquette faux pas from time to time. Commenting on anything from a person’s poor table manners to imperfect grammar is crossing the politeness line. We must always remember that correcting a person will only cause embarrassment.

Etiquette guidelines dictate form and order. For example, you use the salad fork that’s set out on the table when you eat the salad. Manners are not pointing out that someone used the wrong fork. Manners always trump etiquette.

Being critical about a person’s social error is something that you may not be able to undo. People have long memories when they feel they’ve been treated poorly. There is absolutely such a thing as being too honest.

At the end of the day, being nice to others is most important and pointing out other people’s poor manners can mean the difference between keeping or losing friends.

Respectfully Yours,


Have a question? Email: Jacquelyn Youst is owner of the Pennsylvania Academy of Protocol. She is on the board of the National Civility Foundation.

All Rights Reserved © 2019 Jacquelyn Youst