You’d be right to start with questions: who am I, and more importantly, who am I to give anyone advice?
The first answer is easy. I’m a man who has grown old.
The second answer is that I’ve been lucky to have had older family members, teachers, and bosses who sometimes passed along advice, but who more frequently just demonstrated through their daily actions the right way to behave. In other words, I’ve been lucky in role models. I’m grateful to all of them, and especially the one I married.
(And, of course, there’s no end to the guidance I’ve received from strangers via the written word, some of which you’ll find in the pages that follow.)
Despite all that guidance, I’ve nonetheless made mistakes and have been wrong about many things. And while I like to think I’ve learned from those missteps, you may still read things in this book that you disagree with or feel are outdated. For that I apologize and invite your comment—I am after all still learning.
Finally, I’ve written about what I know, so yes, most of the advice is geared towards young men.
Now, let’s get started with Etiquette.