Skip to main content

What are your personal habits like?


Are you guilty of this particular charming habit?  Back before social distancing and working from home, the number of people I noticed daily who could not seem to keep their digits out of their nostrils in public was truly stomach churning.  When did everyone start behaving like ill-bred toddlers in a sandbox?


Um, men?  We can be the most handsome, most physically fit, best dressed, highly educated, and most accomplished raconteurs around.  But you know what?  We're only as pleasant as our personal habits.  The kind of things you do when you're alone, or when you think no one is watching.  Personal habits might include everything from the condition in which you leave the bathroom following a shave and shower -- or after, ahem, using the facilities -- to making sure dirty clothing makes it into the hamper immediately upon removal, to how you behave at the table during mealtimes, to the state of your entryway and living space, to. . .  Fill in the bank. 

The point is, it maters not what sort of job you have, how much money you earn, the size of your house, the sort of vehicle you drive, or how cool you think you are.  As my now wife The Grand Duchess once observed many years ago about relationships in general, when we began dating seriously and were talking very broadly about things not necessarily relating to us as a couple, it is the little things that count.  Personal habits are those little things.  They can make, or break connections and relationships.  Familial, romantic, professional, or otherwise.  

Let's be completely honest for a moment.  We cannot fault others for doing anything possible to avoid time in the company of an inconsiderate, gross slob either at home behind closed doors, or in public.  It's time to back away from the current societal obsession that somehow equates disgusting behaviors with authenticity.  No, no, no gentlemen!  As part of the ongoing program to kick our everyday style several rungs up the socio-evolutionary ladder, it might, instead, be high time to take a long hard look at ourselves in the mirror and pay greater attention to, smarten up, and polish those personal habits.  Undoubtedly, there are also other personal habits you'll want to do your level best to suppress.  For longer than just a few days.  The people around us will appreciate the effort. 

To borrow a page from Michael Caine's book, "Know what I mean?"

-- Heinz-Ulrich

Comments

  1. CharlottesvilleJuly 23, 2020 at 8:02 AM

    Amen, Heinz-Ulrich.

    “The true test of a man’s character is what he does when no one is watching.”

    ― John Wooden

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

All opinions are welcome here. Even those that differ from mine. But let's keep it clean and civil, please.

-- Heinz-Ulrich

Popular Posts

Flannel and Suede Tuesday. . .

W hew!  Almost three hours spent reading and providing feedback for 41 self-evaluative reflections submitted by students at the end of last week for one of my two courses this semester/term.  A largely thankless task since most will pay no attention to the probing questions asked  and suggestions made. There are ten such low risk (two points each) formative assignments between Week Two and Week 13 besides three collaborative projects (due at the end of Week Five, Week 10, and Week 14) and a semester capstone that students complete individually (due at the end of Week 15).  The format is similar for all of the courses I teach whether face-to-face, hybrid, or asynchronous online.  So, why spend the time providing feedback for the ether?  To create a paper trail of sorts.  That way, when students come to me with either belligerence or crocodile tears (it rarely varies) and complaints that they won't be able to earn their A+ -- a foregone conclusion out ahead of the invariable medical
Post a Comment
Read more

Halloween Monday Style. . .

    A dark, wet Halloween today, so time to break out the flannel three-piece, which is one of my favorites during the cooler/colder months.  My sole concession to the day is the orange necktie which is a Brooks Brothers 'Makers' and, in my view, perfect for the fall season given its colors.   The fedora, worn without irony, is a Borsalino 'Noir' model, which works wonderfully well with a trench coat.  Hey, everyday is dress-up day in my little corner of the world.  Here's a tip.  When you dress everyday, and become used to doing so, it ceases to feel like a costume, and you become less self-conscious, eventually forgetting about your clothes all together once they are on your body.  Which is what you want.  Of course, it helps if you observe older male family members doing so routinely during your formative years, but that's not entirely necessary when you have the right approach.  Take a page from Carol Dweck's book and adopt what she has termed a 'g
1 comment
Read more

Fall Break Monday Style. . .

    T he Young Master and I had some fun yesterday (Sunday) afternoon while digging out a few exterior  seasonal decorations from the furnace room.  Enlarge the top photograph to see what Mr. Bones is reading about at my son's suggestion. Personally, I would be happy to skip the Halloween decorations outside beyond a couple of jack-o-lanterns glowing on the front porch for trick-or-treat evening, but The Young Master, who turns 13 this week, still enjoys it, so what are you gonna do?  He will be answering the door this year, however, rather than heading out himself.   But fear not all you advocates of kids hopped up on sugary treats!  His Tae Kwon Do studio has organized a trunk-or-treat for Saturday afternoon, in which our son will indulge following his morning classes toward Black Belt Recommended status (testing in December). Fall Break the first two days of this week, so a bit more work from home since, officially at least, the university is not closed for faculty and staff.  J
2 comments
Read more