What you said about what we said last week
Our etiquette guide for the modern Washingtonian addressed all manner of dilemmas last week, but we clearly forgot one important area: how to behave in a newspaper comments section. To wit: “I cannot believe that so many people collectively wasted so much time in ‘crafting’ this internet blabber,” wrote AR. “If you’re thirsty and you’re in an Uber you paid for, drink the damn water. If you are hosting guests whose opinions you respect, by all means, yes! Prepare a bed with fresh sheets, you morons!…This is a lame excuse for a reference guide. Tell me things I don’t already know…or things that I actually care about. Seriously, neighborhood email lists?”
Yeesh! Luckily, many readers employed proper Internet etiquette, retweeting links to our cover package and adding a friendly “THIS —->.”
Others debated whether some of the scenarios we described constituted rudeness. For one reader, it was a matter of altitude: “I’m over 6 feet tall, and when someone asks me to move at a concert (which happens a lot, regardless of where I’m standing), I think it’s incredibly rude,” wrote Andy. “A lot of these shows are sold out, and it’s hard to find a place to stand. And of course I want to stand near the people I came with. I paid full price for my ticket with a clear understanding of what it would be like to be packed into a crowded room with hundreds of strangers, and so did everybody else.” And Ashley: “General admission venues afford every ticket holder the same opportunity, regardless of height: show up early, stand where you want. If I’ve made the effort (i.e., standing in line outside of the 9:30 Club for two hours in February) to ensure that I can stand close to the stage, I have no obligation to cede my hard-won spot to a short person.”
Also contentious: soup etiquette. “No, you do not need to slurp while eating ramen,” wrote lilly. “Eat it quietly and stop grossing everyone else out with your ‘culture.’ We all know that they slurp in Japan—where you are currently not.” We hope that when lilly next travels to Asia, locals asks her to leave any Americanism on her own continent.
Reader Mrs. D agreed with our restrained advice for riding the Metro, with an addendum: “Don’t curse out the tourists for standing on the left, but for the love of all that is holy, politely ask them to move over at rush hour. ‘Excuse me, can you please stand on the right?’ Some will get gruff with you, even at that, but you took the high road and tried to keep things moving. Nothing is quite as frustrating as being stuck 10 people back and no one will say anything.”
Departments of Corrections
Due to a reporting error, last week’s Loose Lips column about the field of at-large D.C. Council candidates originally omitted Libertarian hopeful Frederick Steiner.