LEAVE SOONER, DRIVE SLOWER, LIVE LONGER.

That highway safety billboard message sums it up rather well.

Having children has definitely made me a better driver.  I have my very own eagle-eyed co-pilot in the back seat who will note if she thinks I am going too fast (for the record I was going the speed limit).   I don't speed or tailgate anymore.  And I try to give the other person the benefit of the doubt if they do a less than stellar move.   I do this because I think of the precious cargo I am transporting.  But what I failed to recognize before I had children is that other cars are filled with someone else's precious cargo as well.

People might not associate good driving with good manners but good (safe) driving necessarily requires good manners.   If you are distracted or are just thinking of yourself you cannot be focused on the safety and well-being of those also sharing the road.   Don't text, groom, or use cellphones (without hands-free devices).   Give yourself more time to get where you are going, and give the benefit of the doubt to the other driver.  Maybe they really do have an emergency, are really late, are lost, or are just having a really bad day.  Try not to take their rude or bothersome driving personally.

Most mornings I let someone in front of me or I try to do something "nice" to a fellow road traveler.  It makes for a much more pleasant ride.  Do you have any tricks for decreasing your stress when driving?

"A GOOD LATHER IS HALF THE SHAVE." WILLIAM HONE

Photo Source

Driving into work this past week I caught sight of a man shaving while behind the wheel.   I guess I  should just be thankful he went with an electric razor and not the traditional razor and shaving cream route. 

It was obvious that this guy was ill-mannered and a bad driver (his car looked like it had been in a demolition derby).  And I have to wonder how good a shave he gave himself.

Be marvelously well-mannered and do personal grooming at home and in private.  Be marvelously well-mannered and be a driver who is considerate of others on the road. 

What inappropriate personal grooming in public have you witnessed?

This Service Needs to Hit the Road.

I love DailyCandy. It is a website that showcases all that is entertaining, fashionable, food related and culturally interesting in major cities (as well as all over the web). It also has a children's version which is simply fabulous as well. It is because I am such an ardent fan of DailyCandy that I am so disappointed that a recent edition showcased an astonishingly offensive service that is based on and encourages the spread of rudeness.

In a nutshell this service (warning the name of the service is offensive)provides a way for disgruntled individuals in search of a parking space to complain anonymously to intentional or inadvertent poor parkers of vehicles by printing out then filling out a note and checking off the transgression of the parker and leaving the note on the other vehicle's windshield.

DailyCandy explains that it will "mitigate your rage" and "keep you out of anger management".

We at Marvelously Well-Mannered think the service lacks civility and decorum. It encourages incredibly rude behavior and perpetuates the idea that one does not need to be polite or gracious in today's society. It feeds on the egocentric idea that everthing is always about "me" and if one is inconvenienced or ticked off one can complain without limit and that one's own rudeness is somehow excused because someone else did something wrong.

But that is not the right way to think or behave. Remember,

"whoever one is, and wherever one is, one is always in the wrong if one is rude." Maurice Baring.

It is marvelously well-mannered to take the high road. Unfortunately, this type of service and the behavior it encourages leads its users to a dead-end in terms of manners and decorum. This service needs to hit the road. Pure and simple.