Practicing Good Mobile Phone Etiquette

Now that technology has provided us with a means to stay in touch with our family and friends from virtually any populated area on the planet, certain rules or etiquette are being blatantly ignored.  Let’s reverse this trend.

Most people who own mobile phones are not keen on the idea of turning off their phones or leaving them behind in any circumstance.  Business professionals, in both blue collar and white collar specialties, carry mobile phones.  Elderly people know how to text, chat, surf, and speak wirelessly to their grand kids, who also carry mobile phones to school with them.  Rich people carry phones.  Poor people carry phones.  The President of the USA is going to start carrying a mobile phone.  Smart people carry phones.  Dumb people… well, you get the point!  Everybody’s got one!

The problem is that many of these people fail to analyze the situation they're in and wind up in an awkward moment where they are being very obnoxious to the people around them.  For example, movie theaters and libraries are not ideal places for ringing phone noises and elaborate ring tones.  That’s extremely rude and disruptive.  Most mobile phones have a silent or vibrate option standard. Make it a habit to either switch your phone to silent before you enter one of these areas, or just leave your phone silenced all the time and get used to living with it that way.  Also, the microphones on mobile phones are fairly efficient.  If you think you have to yell at your phone for the person on the other end to hear, you should not have answered.

Another problem area is in the retail environment on both sides of the sales counter.  I have witnessed sales associates who have spent the entire time it takes to complete my transaction talking on the phone.  I have waited through countless conversations as the people ahead of me in line focus 5% of their attention towards the transaction at hand and 95% towards hearing some juicy gossip. Make it a personal rule to hang up your mobile phones while participating in any transaction.  People will appreciate it.

Not everyone is a great driver.  Plaster a mobile phone to the side of their head and their skill level drastically reduces.  If you can avoid talking on the phone while driving, please do so.  If you absolutely cannot miss the call, at least use a hands-free device.  Whatever you do, do not EVER text and drive  That’s incredibly stupid and it's illegal!!

How to Host a Successful Baby Shower

A close friend or family member is having a baby and you want to host a memorable baby shower for them, but you’re low on ideas.  Here are some ideas to help you plan for the special day.

Decide who will be involved in hosting the shower. Organize a group of people and decide who will be in charge of keeping the shower planning on-track. The main host of the shower should be a friend and not a family member, as etiquette dictates, but family may certainly be actively involved in the entire process. Good communication is essential to success. The “lead planner” should coordinate with the expectant parents and determine the best date for the shower. Most people throw baby showers in close proximity to the due date of the baby, but don’t wait too long as some babies do come early. At least one month before the due date should be fine as it allows time for the parents to evaluate the gifts they receive and determine which ones to keep and what they will still need to buy for the baby.

Keep all receipts for the money that everyone involved in hosting the party spends on the shower so that all expenses can be equally divided.  Choose the cutest invitations you can find and try to decide on an overall theme for the shower.  Knowing the sex of the baby in advance is helpful, but not required.  Buy a bouquet of balloons and enough separate balloons to tie in strategic locations throughout the shower.  Be sure to have enough balloons to tie a few to the mailbox in front of the house where the shower will be held.  Request a guest list with mailing addresses from the expectant parents and mail the invitations no later than six weeks before the event.  Include an RSVP as it will help you to plan the necessary food and refreshments more carefully.

Arrange several activities for the shower and have a few back-ups just in case the shower lasts longer than expected.  Some fun games to play are baby trivia, unscrambling words that refer to baby terms, writing cute messages on diapers for the baby, and creating custom outfits for the baby using white onesies and fabric paint.  If the shower includes both men and women, have two baby dolls and some props, like diapers, clothes, bottles, etc. and make the men try to care for the baby while the women shout instructions to them.  Simulate all of the distractions that would normally happen during the day, like preparing a meal, a phone ringing, or a visitor at the door.  This is almost always amusing.

Set up for the shower early in the day to allow time for someone to go pick up anything that was overlooked. The day of the shower should be fun and completely stress-free for the hosts, the expectant parents, and the guests. While the expectant parents are opening gifts, have someone write the names of the gifts as well as the gift givers on a sheet of paper. This will be a great help to the couple when it’s time to write thank you notes. After the shower, each host should total the amounts that they spent and report them to the lead planner. They can determine who owes money and who gets a refund.