Holiday Advice: Small Talk=Small Minds

            Sometime around Christmas last year I caught Daniel Post Senning on the radio lamenting American incivility at the dinner table. Grandson of Emily (Miss Manners) Post, flogging the family product: advice. Only his seemed to be a recipe for inane and boring small talk, and I called and told him so. He readily agreed!

However, he explained he routinely hears from Americans whose family relationships have been so sundered by fierce arguments during holiday dinners that he is essentially giving advice he doesn’t believe in: small talk at table. 

            One of the most remarkable things I saw in Berlin were TV talk shows where as many as ten guests outlined and defended their opinions without ever raising their voices or making disparaging remarks. Contrast that with Fox News and others on American TV, yelling as if shouting increased the legitimacy of their argument instead of undermining it. Mr. Senning was also advocating listening. It is remarkable the thoughtful exchange of ideas that can happen when respect is the order of the day.

So as not to embarrass yourself this holiday or any other, keep a critical eye on your volume, listen carefully and don’t betray your confidence in your own ideas by hollering!.