Social customs and ways of behavior change
Social customs and ways of behavior change. Things that were considered impolite many years ago are now acceptable. Just a few years ago, it was considered to be impolite behavior for a man to smoke on the street. No man who thought of himself as being a gentleman would make a fool of himself by smoking when a lady was in a room. Customs also differ from country to country. Does a man walk on the left or the right of a woman in your country? Or doesn’t it matter? What about table manners? Should you use both hands when you are eating? Should you leave one in your lap, or on the table? The Americans and the British not only speak the same language but also share a large number of social customs. For example, in both America and England people shake hands when they meet each other for the first time.
Also, most Englishmen will open a door for a woman or offer their seat to a woman, and so will most Americans. Promptness is important both in England and in America. That is, if a dinner invitation is for seven o’clock, the dinner guest either arrives close to that time or calls up to explain his delay. The important thing to remember about social customs is not to do anything that might make other people feel uncomfortable, especially if they are your guests. There is an old story about a man who gave a formal dinner party. When the food was served, one of the guests started to eat his peas with a knife. The other guests were amused or shocked, but the host calmly picked up his knife and began eating in the same way. It would have been bad manners to make his guest feel foolish or uncomfortable.
社會行為風俗和方式是不斷變化的。很多年前被認為是不禮貌的事情，現在已經被接受了。就在幾年前，一個男人站在街道上吸煙，會被認為是不禮貌的行為。國家不同，風俗也不同。在你們國家，對於男人應該走在女人的左側還是右側，有要求嗎？還是無所謂？進餐的時候，應該同時使用雙手嗎？還是應該把一個手放在腿上，或者放在桌子上？美國人和英國人，不僅所說的語言相同，很多社會習慣也相同。舉例來說：不管是在美國還是英國，人們首次見面，總是要握手的。
還有，大多數英國男士都會為女士開門、拉座椅，大部分美國男人，也是如此。準時，對美國和英國人來說也都很重要。如果，晚餐邀請定在7點，客人要么在將近7點到達，要么會打電話解釋遲到了。關於社會風俗，最重要的一點就是要記住：別做任何會讓別人感覺不舒服的事情———尤其當對方是你的客人時。當食品上桌的時候，如果有一個客人開始用餐刀吃豌豆，其他客人會覺得好玩或者震驚。但是如果主人習以為常採用同樣的方式，用刀吃豌豆，這種不良的行為方式，就會讓他的客人覺得被愚弄了，或者感覺很不舒服。
Shèhuì xíngwéi fēngsú hé fāngshì shì bùduàn biànhuà de. Hěnduō nián qián bèi rènwéi shì bù lǐmào de shìqíng, xiànzài yǐjīng bèi jiēshòule. Jiù zài jǐ nián qián, yīgè nánrén zhàn zài jiēdào shàng xīyān, huì bèi rènwéi shì bù lǐmào de xíngwéi. Guójiā bùtóng, fēngsú yě bùtóng. Zài nǐmen guójiā, duìyú nánrén yīnggāi zǒu zài nǚrén de zuǒ cè háishì yòu cè, yǒu yāoqiú ma? Háishì wúsuǒwèi? Jìncān de shíhou, yīnggāi tóngshí shǐyòng shuāngshǒu ma? Háishì yīnggāi bǎ yīgè shǒu fàng zài tuǐ shàng, huòzhě fàng zài zhuōzi shàng? Měiguó rén hé yīngguó rén, bùjǐn suǒ shuō de yǔyán xiāngtóng, hěnduō shèhuì xíguàn yě xiāngtóng. Jǔlì lái shuō: Bùguǎn shì zài měiguó háishì yīngguó, rénmen shǒucì jiànmiàn, zǒng shì yào wòshǒu de. Hái yǒu, dà duōshù yīngguó nánshì dūhuì wèi nǚshì kāimén, lā zuò yǐ, dà bùfèn měiguó nánrén, yěshì rúcǐ. Zhǔnshí, duì měiguó hé yīngguó rén lái shuō yě dū hěn zhòngyào. Rúguǒ, wǎncān yāoqǐng dìng zài 7 diǎn, kèrén yàome zài jiāngjìn 7 diǎn dàodá, yàome huì dǎ diànhuà jiěshì chídàole. Guānyú shèhuì fēngsú, zuì zhòngyào de yīdiǎn jiùshì yào jì zhù: Bié zuò rènhé huì ràng biérén gǎnjué bú shūfú de shìqíng———yóuqí dāng duìfāng shì nǐ de kèrén shí. Dāng shípǐn shàng zhuō de shíhou, rúguǒ yǒu yīgè kèrén kāishǐ yòngcān dāo chī wāndòu, qítā kèrén huì juéde hǎowán huòzhě zhènjīng. Dànshì rúguǒ zhǔrén xíyǐwéicháng cǎiyòng tóngyàng de fāngshì, yòng dāo chī wāndòu, zhè zhǒng bùliáng de xíngwéi fāngshì, jiù huì ràng tā de kèrén juéde bèi yúnòngle, huòzhě gǎnjué hěn bú shūfú.
