John Bridges - 50 things every young gentleman should know revised and upated - what to

50 THINGS
EVERY YOUNG
GENTLEMAN
SHOULD KNOW

OTHER GENTLEMANNERS BOOKS

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John Bridges

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As a Gentleman Would Say
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A Gentleman Gets Dressed Up
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A Gentleman Walks Down the Aisle
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Toasts and Tributes
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50 Things Every Young Lady Should Know
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How to Be a Lady
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As a Lady Would Say
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How to Raise a Gentleman
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How to Raise a Lady
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A Lady at the Table
Sheryl Shade with John Bridges and Bryan Curtis

A Gentleman at the Table
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A Gentleman Abroad
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50 THINGS
EVERY YOUNG
GENTLEMAN
SHOULD KNOW

REVISED AND EXPANDED

WHAT TO DO,
WHEN TO DO IT & WHY

JOHN BRIDGES | BRYAN CURTIS

2006, 2012 by John Bridges and Bryan Curtis.

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any otherexcept for brief quotations in printed reviews, without prior permission of the publisher.

Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Thomas Nelson. Thomas Nelson is a registered trademark of Thomas Nelson, Inc.

Thomas Nelson, Inc., titles may be purchased in bulk for educational, business, fund-raising, or sales promotional use. For information, please e-mail SpecialMarkets@ThomasNelson.com.

Illustrations by Alicia Adkerson, Adkerson Design

ISBN 978-1-40160-465-3 (repackage)

ISBN 978-1-59555-319-5 (Orvis)

The Library of Congress has cataloged the earlier edition as follows:

Bridges, John, 1950
50 things every young gentleman should know / John Bridges and Bryan Curtis.
p. cm.(Gentlemanners books)
ISBN 978-1-4016-0294-9 (hard cover)
ISBN 978-1-4016-0306-9 (SE)
1. BoysConduct of life. I. Curtis, Bryan, 1960II. Title. III. Title: Fifty things every young gentleman should know.
BJ1641.B75 2006
395.122dc22

2006021523

Printed in the United States of America

12 13 14 15 16 WOR 6 5 4 3 2 1

To Cooper Truman Burruss in the
hope he will believe good things, and
behave the right way, too
J. B.

To Scott Sims a great sport and a
great nephew
B. C.

CONTENTS

xi

M ore than once, your mom or your dad has probably told you, Sit up straight. Act like a gentleman.

You know what they mean. They want you to have nice manners. They want you to be a young man people like. They want you to be a young man people trust. They want you to be a young man people respect. They want you to be a young man who gets into good schools and gets a good job.

Being a gentleman does not mean that you cant have a good time. In fact, it can be funand a big reliefto know how to do things the right way. But there are a number of rules you will want to follow if you want to behave in a gentlemanly way.

You probably know a lot of these rules already. You know that a gentleman does not smack his chewing gum or stick it under the seat of his chair. You know that a gentleman does not chew with his mouth open or make irritating noises with his armpits. You know that a gentleman is helpful to older people and that he offers to help clear the table after dinner is finished.

But there are other rules, too, and a lot of them are included in this book. They are not difficult to follow, but you may need to practice them a little so they will come easily to you.

If you start now, however, they will stick with you for years to come. Then, when you are older, people will look at you and say, Well, isnt he a fine gentleman? And thats the same thing as saying, Well, isnt he a good guy?

Better yet, there may be an immediate payoff for all this hard work. It may mean the best summer job youve ever had. It may mean impressing girls. It may even mean impressing your parents so much that you get more privileges.

We hope you enjoy this book. We hope it brings you lots of good friends and lots of great times. We hope it will help you make your parents proud.

Chapter 1
SAYING PLEASE

S aying please is the simplest thing you will ever have to do. It is like taking the easiest class at your school. It is a slam dunk. Its probably smart to start using the word please as often as you can, beginning right now. It will make life go much more smoothly for you.

Heres whats in it for you: Remember when you were three or four and you would ask for something, and before your mom would give it to you, she would stand there asking, What do you say? and of course you would say, Pleeeeeeeease. And she would give it to you. That was cute when you were three. But look how old you are now.

If you havent already started using please all the time, you should be worried. And your parents certainly ought to be concerned. They may even be asking themselves, Should we even bother putting him in the will?or Why should we be worrying about sending him to college? He cant even say please.

Start practicing now:

At the breakfast table, you dont say, Can I have some cereal?

Instead, you say, May I have some cereal, please?

If somebody asks, Do you want sugar on your cereal? you dont say, Yeah.

Instead, you say, Yes, please.

If youre on a crowded elevator, you dont say, Can somebody over there press nine?

Instead, you say, Would someone press nine, please?

If you come to the door, and your hands are full, you dont say, Hey! Somebody get the door! Instead, you say, Would you hold the door open for me, please?

Please is a lot like HD televisions, the newest gaming system, and having cash in your pocket. It makes the world a nicer place to live in.

Learn how to use it, and start using it now. It will take you far.

YOU DO

Say please any time you are asking someone to do something for you. That means, when youre in a restaurant, you say to the waiter, May I have another soda, please?

YOU DONT

Assume, just because other people are doing their jobs, that you dont have to show appreciation for their efforts.

Why

One day you will realize that you should be as nice to the person who opens the door for you at Trump Tower as you would be to Donald Trump himself. If you learn that now, you will be way ahead of the game.

A gentleman knows that please and thank you go together like nachos and cheese.

A gentleman says please to anyone offering him assistance. It does not matter if he is being offered an order of fries or free tickets to a football game.

Chapter 2
SAYING THANK YOU

S aying Thank you is just as easyand as importantas saying please. Remember how easy it was to play T-ball? Saying thank you is that easy. You say, Thank you, any time anyone does something nice or helpful for you.