Mind Your Manners!!

I volunteered yesterday in coordination with the 'Week of Good Manners' program that was hosted by one of the local schools here in my neighbourhood. It was my job to sit and wait for 10 different groups of children to come to where I was stationed and upon their arrival, act out a misdemeanour in public space so that they could politely offer advice on how I could act more appropriately in public space. My particular naughty characteristic was speaking too loudly on my cell phone. Fun! So as I ranted and raved about the game last night and how I lost money on a bet, the students got my attention and gave me advice on my behaviour that ranged from very polite to hilarious. In general, I was told that I should be more respectful of my public surroundings because it is being used by more people than just myself. I also however received such reactions as "There are babies sleeping here! They can hear you!" and "Not everyone wants to hear what you have to say, you know!" and my personal favourite: "Hey lady, you're crazy!" It made for a fun day.

With respect to my research, it was interesting to see which manners were identified as being important enough to highlight by the organizers. While I understand that certain manners were chosen because they could be immediately identified in a public space in order for the game to work, this kind of activity can provide some idea as to how people should use and how children at taught to comport themselves in public areas.

I was only 1 of 10 volunteers that were placed throughout the immediate area surrounding one of the local neighbourhood centres. Although my character spoke loudly on the phone, the children had to do the following when seeing other asocial behaviours:

1. Telling someone that leaving their dog's poop in the middle of a walking bridge was unacceptable
2. Helping someone who has dropped their groceries pick them up (without laughing at them first - not laughing was actually a requirement!)
3. Stopping someone from littering
4. Stopping someone from crossing the street on a red light
5. Helping someone cross the street who is unsure of how to navigate the bikes, cars, trams, etc.
6. Stopping someone from riding their bike on the sidewalk
7. Stopping someone from vandalising the bus shelter
8. Helping someone who cannot speak Dutch very well
9. Being treated to candy as long as they were able to act nicely and politely greet you

As you can see, the themes of the manners ranged from safety in public streets (crossing the street), to criminal acts (vandalism), to public nuisance (dog poop and speaking too loudly) in addition to helping those who cannot speak the language (I thought maybe I should have requested this one...the role was made for me!). I also noticed some underlying themes such as respecting your elders and helping those who are less fortunate.

From my post I could tell the children had fun and since today is the last day before a two week holiday here I could tell they were super excited to be out in the sunshine. Thus, in addition to working hard at being loud, I also worked on my tan sitting in the beautiful playground next to my place. Just look at my view!


Minding my manners was never so much fun!