Snow apparently does not bring out the best in people at all! Seriously guys, help each other out of ditches when you choose to take your cars out irresponsibly. And maybe ask your neighbor if they need milk before you hike to the store. Seattle's own Mary Mitchell is the author of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Etiquette, and she's given us a few helpful hints to make sure we stay on the up and up till all this stuff is gone. Here's what she's got to say about how we should be acting.
· Slow down. Everybody is pressured for time and needs to be somewhere else, too.
· Calm down. Yelling at other drivers and pedestrians serves no useful purpose. Remember those magic words: please, thank you, and excuse me. Use them often.
· You, too, can help. Now is the time to volunteer your strong back for shoveling, running errands, and generally being useful to others less mobile or agile than yourself.
· Don’t be cheap. Should you be fortunate enough to have a neighbor’s kid shovel your sidewalk, pay him or her well. We all need to learn about the free-enterprise system somehow.
· Compromise. It’s the key to sanity. If digging a nice wide path to your door means obscuring your next-door neighbors’ way to their front door, dig a narrower path so both households are served. The same principle applies to parking spaces.
· Keep your sense of humor. Snowstorms can bring out the silliness in us just as easily as our dark side.
· Let others pass you – on the sidewalk, on the street. If they’re in such a hurry, don’t compete.
· Offer to help someone who has difficulty walking, keeping his or her balance, or carrying packages.