The following is an excerpt from “DON’T: The Essential Guide to Publicity in New York City (and any other city that matters).”
Are there varying levels of character, sophistication and accomplishment between people? Certainly. But no one is beneath surmounting a rudimentary milieu and no one is above regarding others with respect. It is unseemly to look down on anyone. A supercilious attitude says more about you than the subject of your contempt and has no place in the realm of ‘good’ manners.
This may be applied to any, and all, whom you come in contact with in the daily course of doing business—interns, doormen, barmaids, the courier guy, waiters, office cleaning ladies, or your receptionist.
As a rule, you should not view bar staff as convenient, if ‘common,’ sexual supplicants waiting to be picked off like skeet. Unless you wish to come off as a boor, you do not refer to female bartenders as “bar wenches,” other human beings as “the help,” view taxi drivers as miscreants, or deem staff of any stripe as inherently ‘beneath’ you.
Pandering to some presupposed caste system is distasteful and what it signifies about your perspective, unattractive. These people may be otherwise toiling at any of the personally, if not financially, rewarding vocations (artist, writer, actress, take your pick) that draw creative people to Manhattan and make it such a fascinating city in which to live. Or they just may be decent citizens making a living.
Displaying disdain, even just amongst your colleagues, marks you as a pretentious ass to those who know better while aligning you with the sniggering yobs who do not.
For more information or to purchase “DON’T” visit dontnewyorkcity.com.
