上班族必備軟實力

[Richard is an American in Taiwan and the epitome of civility.]

Proper etiquette is a way to avoid offending others. Just follow the rules and nobody gets hurt. Don’t be a dunder head. There are some minor differences in etiquette between the East and the West, but common sense should see anyone through in either hemisphere.

When eating, here are some things that you can do in Taiwan that you can’t do in the West:

• Sing at the table
• Drink soup from the bowl

These things you still cannot do:

• Make hyena noises
• Throw food

Someday I will find the place where you can do these things.

Handle with care.

Name cards are important. Treat cards that you get respectfully. Put them in a pocket or a card holder. You can always throw them away when the card giver is out of sight. The important thing is for them to think that you value your association with them.

Turnabout is fair play? Not really. Or else, I could talk loudly to myself when other people are yelling into their phones? I’m the one who would look crazy. I could clip a receiver to my ear or wear a headset and talk away in a crowd of people and still look normal, but if I start singing my favorite show tunes, everyone stays as far away from me as possible and avoids eye contact. That is not polite. That is bad etiquette. So, turn the other cheek may be more appropriate.

Etiquette in the modern age. “Do unto others what you would have done unto you.” This is the Golden Rule of the Buddha. It is also good etiquette and common sense. Take off your shoes when going into a house.

Treat each other nicely and you will get along. Thank you for reading this.