GETTING OFF A STREET-CAR
One of the things that most women need to learn is the correct way of getting off a street-car, which is to step off with the right foot, facing front, which saves awkwardness in every case and sometimes, if the car starts too soon, an accident.
Nothing more absolutely marks a lady than her manner toward her social inferior. She is kindly but never patronizing. A woman who was once being fitted for new shoes and who had inquired of the clerk who waited on her how his family were—the man had been at his post for many years and she called him by name—turned to a woman acquaintance who was waiting her turn and said, explanatorily, “I always speak to the butcher, the baker and the candlestick maker.” If this was her custom, why apologize for it?
AT THE HOTEL TABLE
When strangers are served at the same table in a hotel, they should bow and say “Good morning” or “Good evening,” on sitting down and on leaving. This polite custom, often ignored in America, is universal abroad.
If one wishes to ask a social favor such as a card for a friend to a ball to which you yourself have been asked, or a letter of introduction, it is better to make the request by note if possible, as this gives the other person more freedom to refuse if that seems necessary.