48 www.CharlestonWomenPodcast.com | www.ReadCW.com | www.Instagram.com/CharlestonWomen Carolina Society Hall downtown. For the last 28 years, the Mount Pleasant chapter of the National League of Junior Cotillions has offered cotillion classes at Snee Farm Country Club. But instructor Mary Kennerty said that her cotillion classes encompass more than just learning the Fox Trot. They offer elementary and middle-schoolers a whole package of social etiquette skills that will help them throughout life, such as formal table manners, tips for job interviews, conversational skills, appropriate introductions, greetings, how to handle giving and receiving compliments and much more. “They leave here with self-confidence and a solid foundation of skills that are a prerequisite for most business and social situations,” Kennerty explained. “Ours is a copyrighted curriculum and the students get a lot from it. But classes are fun, too.” Popular line dances and the Shag, as well as the traditional waltz are included. The program culminates with an annual formal dinner and dance. Some folks today have turned away from traditional rules of etiquette. For example, we tend to dress more casually, introduce each other by first names and don’t always hold a door open for strangers. But what hasn’t disappeared is the need to know what is and is not appropriate behavior. For nearly 50 years, newspaper columnist Judith Martin, aka “Miss Manners,” has been the guru of dispensing such advice. More than 200 newspapers throughout the country still carry her column. Her question-and-answer format allows readers to submit concerns, not just about how to plan a party or wedding, but to ask her take on life issues like child-rearing, workplace problems and even moral dilemmas. She has also published nearly a dozen books and for the last 25 years, has had an additional gig as a contributor to the Financial Times and the Microsoft Network. Simply put, the world, according to Miss Manners, functions more efficiently when folks follow specific guidelines. Her supposition is that we all have to live together on this planet, so we might as well make the most of it. The prevalence of lawsuits, road-rage, public violence and bipartisan fighting only serve to eat away at the fabric of society. Today, Miss Manners is more concerned with complicated matters like these, as opposed to whether it’s okay to put elbows on the dinner table or whom to invite to a bridal shower. TIME Magazine claims Miss Manners “has helped transform etiquette from the realm of society matrons to a tool for everyday life.” The New York Times has called her columns “an impassioned plea for a return to civilized behavior.” Charleston Women in Business
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