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Three Axioms for More Civilized Living. . .



As I've gone through life the past few days or so, a few things have occurred to me while observing people and overhearing their interactions.  These admittedly rough ideas might be useful for average guys working to kick up their everyday style several notches.  Here goes: 

1) Just because you are paying for something (or, if you are under 22 or 23, your parents or the government via student loans) -- on campus, in a restaurant, at the supermarket, while traveling, or in a place as tacky and awful as Las Vegas has become -- you do not have the right to abandon polite social convention and behave like an obnoxious and entitled moron.  Lose the unsavory the-customer-is-always-right attitude, and do it now!  It's definitely NOT the way to win friends or influence people.

2) Learn to enjoy the company of women.  Ignore this rule to your detriment.  By and large, women are more interesting personalities than most of us men, and they are better able to discuss a wide array of interesting subjects.  Guys, endless nattering on about sports statistics, or those ponderous war stories about your alcohol-induced sexcapades during your undergraduate years are duller than dishwater.  There.  I've said it.

3) Sometimes, give something to someone else just to be nice. . .  without any possibility for gain on your part. . .  monetary, material, or otherwise.

-- Heinz-Ulrich

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