Decorum on Vacation
You’ve worked hard and earned your vacation but sometimes, even though you’ve planned your precious away-time down to the last detail, it’s ruined by thoughtless yobs that apparently were raised by monkeys. Or, maybe you’re the yob and get a tad carried away on one of your annual treks down to Cancun.
In a recent survey by Expedia, European hoteliers considered Britons to be the worst tourists for rude behaviour while the Japanese were considered the best for being oh so polite (Domo arigato)! And wealth and/or social status don’t necessarily guarantee good social graces. Sometimes the people who behave the worst are the ones drinking their third bottle of Lafite.
There must be a way for everyone to get along. Maybe if we follow certain simple rules of behaviour while away? Let’s start with these:
Airport and plane etiquette: In an airport lounge, take one seat, not one for you, one for your bag, and one for your lunch. Once on the plane, don’t grab the seat of the person in front of you when you get up and recline your seat slowly so as not to put the lunch of the passenger behind you in her lap. Use your cell phone at a minimum and speak quietly. In a survey by TripAdvisor, 78% of respondents thought cell phones should be banned from airplanes. Seriously! You’re in a confined space, try to keep your private conversation private. Flight attendants aren’t responsible for every little thing that goes wrong and just because you paid for your ticket doesn’t mean you’re entitled to a free pass to Nirvana. Take a deep breath. This is air travel after all. Something is bound to go wrong. If it doesn’t involve ditching in the ocean, you’re having a good day.
Queue busters: For some people, standing in line with a whole bunch of other people seems to be for rubes only. Apparently, people regularly try to jump queues at Disney World. What’s up with that? How un-Mickey like. Those Rudey Rudelers need to remember everyone else is on vacation too. If you see a line up, line UP. These are the same people who try to bust into a lane while driving. Dudes, get in line.
Meal-Time Horrors: Again, if there’s a line at a table with food, or someone behind a counter serving food, get in line. And no matter where you’re staying, there should be common courtesy exercised in terms of volume. You’re not at Camp Yahoo on summer vacation (unless you are and, even then, I’m sure there are rules posted in the Dining Hall about excessive noise). It’s nice that you and yours are having so much fun, just try to keep the noise level a titch below frat-level.
Minors Behaving Badly.: I like children, I even have a few, so I’m pretty tolerant of little tykes having a bad moment here and there. It’s when the parents behave badly that I start to get testy. And there’s a difference between a kid having a meltdown at 9 pm in a dining room (when they should probably be in bed) and being loud and boisterous at 9 in the morning without any regard to the people around them. On the other hand, if just the sight of children makes your toes curl, consider going to an adults-only resort or hotel. There are plenty of them around.
Over-Imbibing: On the plane, at the pool, in your room, wherever, just because you’re on an all-inclusive vacation doesn’t mean you can drink to the point that you’re hootin’ and hollerin’ at every attractive member of the opposite sex or that you should do 28 straight cannonballs into the pool. Save some brain cells for the life you left behind. You will go back eventually and probably on the same plane with the people who watched you stagger around the pool all week.
Love Monkeys: Listen up, all you couples in love out there. Yes, you’re on vacation, but that doesn’t mean you can maul each other the entire time. Nobody wants to watch that. And if you can’t keep your hands to yourselves, consider staying at a resort for singles. There are lots of those around too and that kind of behaviour is practically encouraged, or so I’ve been told.
Hotel manners Like this hotel? Wanna come back? They’ll remember you if you’re rude to the staff and will know if you steal their towels. Tip your maid daily. She is not making a lot in hourly wages and she is required to clean rooms on schedule so also try not to leave it an abysmal mess. She should have room to manoeuvre so keep your items out of the way. And don’t leave a lot of belongings on the bed since this will slow her down when she has to strip the sheets. You should also tidy up before you leave at the end of your stay by placing garbage in the appropriate bins and used towels in the bathroom. I can hear the groans and whines already, “But I’m on vacation!” Just because you’re on vacation doesn’t mean your manners have to take one too.
Back to Designers
Comments (0)
Add to Del.ici.ous
Digg this
Facebook