Robert Harling believes the “only thing that separates us from the animals is our ability to accessorize.” I contend it’s good manners.

I believe folks without manners were RBW – raised by wolves. Their parents never taught them that people in polite society don’t take up more than a single parking space or throw trash on the ground.

Polite people, on the other hand, shut doors behind them and obey “no smoking” signs. They don’t talk in the movies. They come to class on time.

Unfortunately, they are in short supply.

The sad fact is that manners are out of fashion. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t advocate a return to yesteryear. I can open my own door, but I appreciate some help when my hands are full. I enjoy fine dining but am lost at any meal with more than three forks. White gloves are hard to keep clean and impossible to type with.

I’m also not one of those people Miss Manners describes as “under the delusion that manners are only for use on formal occasions.” I’d like to see courteous behavior become standard practice, starting with these six areas:

TABLE MANNERS

Chew with your mouth closed. Keep your elbows off the table. Say “please” when you ask someone to pass the jambalaya. My parents constantly harped on table manners.

Much of today’s business is conducted over meals, and bad table manners aren’t professional. What company hires job candidates who talk with food in their mouths or who fail to use a napkin?

THANK YOU NOTES

My grandmother drilled into me the importance of writing thank you notes – not thank you calls or e-mails. Proper etiquette demands a handwritten, personal note on nice paper to express appreciation for a gift bestowed or service performed. She’d be amused that people now pay job search consultants and head hunters to impress upon them the importance of following an interview with a note saying “thanks” for the opportunity to prove you’re the right person for the job (and to keep your name in front of the people who could hire you).

APPROPRIATE LANGUAGE

Much of our electronic communication is actually business communication, formerly called memos. When writing to your boss (or professor), your grammar, spelling and punctuation are evidence of professionalism – or lack thereof. Because e-mail is used for official correspondence, the reputation of your entire organization, as well as your own reputation, can be undermined by your use of acronyms, emoticons and other bad habits picked up through texting, IMing and other electronic communication.

PHONE ETIQUETTE

Children used to believe they’d grown up when they were allowed to answer the phone, proud when they could say, “Sugarbaker residence, Julia speaking.”

Now everyone has a phone, including children, with personalized ring tones. No one ever identifies themselves. They just start talking. Students launch into five-minute conversations and wonder why I sound confused when responding. I sound confused because I have no idea who they are.

Too Much Information

My pet peeve is too much information. People stand on street corners and shout out intimate details of their lives, from ID numbers to ATM PINs. Keep your phone conversations – and personal business – to yourself.

You might also want to keep private those photos of you dancing drunk on the bar or at the beach during spring break wearing little more than sunscreen. Big Brother, as well as your future boss and your mother, are watching you – through your MySpace page.

RSVP

“Repondez s’il vous plait” (RSVP) is French for “please respond.” It means to send regrets due to your inability to attend an event or express joyous anticipation over the festivities. Fail to respond, and your hostess won’t know what to think: is it laziness, forgetfulness, tardiness? She may go to great pains – and extra expense – to set a place for you, one that remains empty. Or she may think you’re not attending. How embarrassing for her when you show up. And how classless of you for not replying.

As a Supreme Court justice once said, “Good manners will open doors that the best education cannot.” Imagine what doors will open for you with good manners combined with the excellent education you’re getting at Loyola.

Valerie Andrews is a professor in the School of Mass Communication.