Gen Y & Z etiquette lesson #56 - HOW TO SAY HELLO

              Stand facing the person whom you wish to greet 

             Make eye contact (but not too much – that’s intense)

             Lift right hand (left if you prefer, there is no right or wrong option here).

             Move the hand to the left four centimetres, then the right and back to the left.

             Whilst performing this slightly complex hand movement try to add in a verbal bi-syllabic word 

          such as “hello” (hell – oh).

          If this is too difficult you may shorten the word to the familiar “Hi” (as in High, not Hee).

            For those who are feeling adventurous you can even add the phrase “How are you?” afterwards. 

          But  be careful to cease moving the hand at this stage.

          For a finishing touch you must endeavour against all feelings that speak otherwise to smile. Open your

          lips to one centimetre (vertically not horizontally otherwise you may look like a fish) and tilt the  

          corners of your lips upwards {Please refer to etiquette lesson # 4 for more detailed instructions on how     

          to smile}.         

                   Return hand to a neutral position beside your hips (please fight the desire to place the hand inside your 

          pocket or behind your back)

            Continue in the same manner if the person responds and potentially engages you in conversation.

Gen Y & Z etiquette lesson - #4 HOW TO SMILE

  1.     Stand or sit facing the person or people at whom you wish to smile.

        2.     Open your lips to one centimetre (closed lips are not as welcoming)
  3.     Tilt the corners of your lips upwards (downwards is more comfortable but far less like a smile).
  4.     When smiling, be careful not to grit your teeth or open your mouth too wide as this 

              can scare young children or the elderly.
  5.     Maintain eye contact with the recipient whilst smiling (it can get confusing otherwise).
  6.     Hold the smile until either the recipient(s) return the smile, or after 3 seconds.
  7.     If the recipient approaches or engages you in greetings or conversation please refer 

             immediately to lesson #56 on how to say hello.

  IMPORTANT NOTES ON SMILING:
   

        -  Directing a smile at no one is ok if you are a nice old grandma or a baby under the age 

           of 18 months. However anyone in between those two ages will run the risk of looking 

           slightly deranged or drug-addicted if they smile without directing it to a recipient.

        -  Do not make eye contact for more than three seconds unless they are a person 

           with whom you wish to have a romantic relationship. 

        -  Inappropriate times to smile include but are not limited to the following:

o   Funerals

o   When your boss/parent/friend/authority figure is correcting you

o   When someone is talking about a sad experience. You will know they are sad 

    because the corners of their mouth will be pointing down and they will NOT 

    be smiling (remember a smile is where the corners of the mouth point upwards).

o   When someone hurts themselves (if you must smile turn AWAY from the victim).

-               DO NOT SMILE AT ANYONE IN A HUGO BOSS SUIT WITH A TOMMY GUN. 

         - Shelley xx

The Benefits of Multi-Generational Friendships

Most of my friendship circle is limited to people my own age: fellow Gen-Y-ers. These are friends with whom I can talk about music festival experiences, friends who share a mutual love for Caleb Followill, who can relate when I bitch about how my casual job is so low-paying, who are struggling to finish their undergrad degree or are fresh out of uni and still have no idea what they want to do, and most of all, friends who understand the bane-of-our-existence when it comes to finishing assignments (damn you Facebook!). But I’ve also been blessed to have a few friendships with people in their young teens, thirties, forties, fifties, sixties…you get the picture. Such friendships are very special to me and I would almost go so far as to say they are more special than the ones I share with people my own age. That’s no dig on my Gen-Y buddies but being friends with people from different generations has given me a unique perspective on certain things in life.

Hanging around my Gen-Z friends brings back memories of high school, silly crushes on the opposite sex and the hilariousness of early teen melodrama. I’m absolutely floored by my Gen X friends (mostly mums) and their multi-tasking skills. I envy their ability to balance work with being devoted parents, on top of doing regular volunteer work - many have even gone back to do further study. I’ve always found my Boomer friends to be some of the most encouraging and generous bunch I’ve ever met, always offering a kind word or opening up their homes to people. They know what it is to be broke, self-conscious and unsure of yourself in your teens and twenties, to go through the striving and stresses of early parenthood and to come out the other side.

Once a month I get the privilege of hanging out with a group of seniors. From my Builder friends I have learnt not to sweat the small stuff when you’re young - still working on the application of that pearl of wisdom. And contrary to the belief that oldies are boring, I have learnt from these lovely people that you can be vibrant and have a sense of humour even when you’re an eighty-something. I’ve observed in the youngest and oldest friends among my acquaintance a lack of inhibition, or an un-self-consciousness (is that a word?) that I find incredibly inspiring. People like 90-year-old Ilona whom I wish I knew personally!



I only wish I could say I had more multi-generational friendships. If you hear of any elderly ladies who want to hang with a 20-year-old girl, tell them to get in touch.

Helicopter Parents

As someone who works in a school environment I've become very familiar with 'Helicopter Parents'. I can spot them a mile off .My hackles start to rise when i'm talking to them and I feel a great sense of unease for the children within that family. Sometimes I catch myself thinking about helping the child find fantastic spots to hide from their parents in or teaching them some kind of extreme sport that would make their super safety conscious parent hyperventalate. You may think that this is all a bit dramatic and I admit that it is, but if you've ever really, truly come into the grasp of the well intended yet smothering worry of a helicopter parent you wouldn't mind my rebellion so much.

For those of you who don't know what a Helicopter parent is, i've kindly detailed their most famous attributes.

Looks Like:      -Can often be found in a cold sweat or with a self induced worry rash.
                          -Their eyes will be perpetually scanning to pinpoint the exact wherabouts of their children.
                          - Often doing embarressing things to teenage sons/daughters such as holding hands or
                           wiping muck of their face with spit and a tissue.
                          -Will be the ones still picking up their kid in yr12 and going on all the school trips
Sounds Like:    -They are right. Helicopter parents never believe they have anything to learn, they are
                           experts at raising children.
                          -Prepare to hear gasps and worried shrieks and don't be alarmed if you hear comments like
                           'when I was flipping through my daughters diary'.
Feels Like:      - Smothering. You will feel the sudden need to either depart, inflict some kind of pain or tell
                           them to be quiet.
                         -Did I say smothering?

Money - Generations X&Y

Here is a great link to an article in Adelaide Now (of all places) about finance and Gen Y & X!



http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/money/investing/its-time-to-examine-your-financial-future/story-e6fredl3-1225989504723








Let me inspire both generations to read this:
...in Generation Y language:
Learn how to save money so you can buy things you want...
...in Generation X language:
Examine your financial future - time is running out!

Enjoy!

Do you fit your generation: Facebook

Family Stickers

Question –

How do you identify a gen X female driver…?

Answer –

They have MyFamily stickers that show off their perfect family. Not that it would ever be societal ideals of the perfect family (that which was the nuclear two parent and two children). It would be their choice and it would be the best. Elements of brag-ability include having more than four (4) children in the My Family sticker brood; winning the most-talented family competition or my favourite, a single person with dogs, cats, birds, I think I even saw a reptile…

Apparently this phenomenon, which was started by a mum on the Gold Coast and now embarking on global domination, is akin to Facebook for you car. Single mums and dads are using it as a dating tool at the school gate… or as a convenient way to judge each other. “Oh my” says Carol. “She has five kids… I wouldn’t want them around for a Saturday play date.” The other mothers titter with juicy delight as they admire their soccer-styled or piggy-tailed 1-2 children’s stickers on their own SUV.

More difficult to understand are the women whose children have actually left home or at least passed the age of eighteen and are clearly not impressed that their over-adoring parent has them portrayed as a six-year old with a tennis racket (a sport they haven’t played since they were…well… six years old!).

Gen Y trickster option: purchase a few for your Boomer father as a joke and act hurt if they refuse to put them on their Jeep.

Coffee!

GENERATION	Frequency	Type	Place	Quote
Veteran	One per day in the morning	Long black or cappuccino (usually instant)	Make instant at home but occasionally go out to a café.	“I’m not a connoisseur, I just drink coffee”
Boomer	Approximately four per day	Mocha Kenya, or latte, or Mug-a-chino. Flat White, Instant Blend 43, Espresso machine… etc	Café/Home/Starbucks/etc	“At home I make the Nescafe pods”… “Well I prefer the coffee bags”… “Instant all the way”… “Out at a café is better”... “No plunger is the way I do it”
X	None --- Twelve per day	Locally roasted and fair trade	Home espresso machine preferred or local café (NEVER STARBUCKS!)	“We brew it better at home, but if I must go out, I only go to “---“ because it’s the best coffee in town. They match the shots perfectly with the size of the coffee.”
Y	Socially or to get out of work	Skinny Caramelised Mochachino frappe, double shot with cream and topped with caramel.	This place is the coolest (or most unique) and everyone goes there.	“Why make it yourself? Coffee is a social thing.”
Z	Two or three per day	Every type as long as it’s organic and I can make it myself.	I brew the best coffees myself so why go anywhere else?	“I started on baby chinos when I was two and have now perfected a double shot, locally roasted organic coffee which I brew on our state of the art coffee machine at home.”

GENERATION	SUPERLATIVE	EXCLAMATIONS
Veteran	Splendid/ Pleasant	Jiminy Cricket/Oh my!
Boomer	Brilliant	Great
X	Excellent/Perfect	Wow
Y	Awesome/Rad/Wicked/Sweet/Awesome/ Amazing/etc	OMG/Cool/Awesome/Wow/
Z	OMG	OMG

Dear Gen Y

Dear Gen Y,

We know,  you’re the love of your life, we understand. You dream of your super dooper future and gasp in awe of it’s greatness, you spend hours perfecting your myspace and facebook profiles and love nothing more than posting your  every whim on tumblr. Breaking up is always hard, so here are some handy hints on how to get over your self.

1. Deflate your ego. Take some time off from the online world. We know you may look amazing on facebook, seem like you’re the bee’s knees on blogspot but have you actually achieved anything tangible in the past few months? How about we give you a little time to think on that one

2. Serve others. We know you’ve got big dreams and an amazing future ahead of you but serving others is a great way of broadening your perspective and helping you to see the bigger picture, the full one…you know the one I mean, the one with other people in it besides just yourself.

3. Get old school.  Taking the time to learn some old school manners and etiquette will earn the respect of baby boomers and gen x’ers alike and show everybody just how not self absorbed you really are.

Following these handy hints will have you over yourself and moving on in no time.

Xoxo