How To: Behave Inside the Elevator 2

(Part 2 of 2)

Before going on to the rest of the guidelines, check out Part 1 first.

Converse As Quietly As You Can. Whenever you are joined by your friends inside the elevator, it is inevitable that a conversation will float up. Since you are not the only ones inside, it would be nicer if you don’t talk that loud and limit your discussions on things that bear nothing about personal affairs and gossips. That could help you protect your privacy as well – a stalker might just be around, who knows.

Play Safe. Especially when you’re up for a quickie, always check if there are cameras installed in the elevator. Don’t be stupid, they are not installed there for nothing. Spare yourself from humiliation by simply keeping the “urge” to yourself.

Those are just simple rules but often neglected. There are actually just a handful of Filipinos who act according to acceptable standards and yet again, culture has something to do with it. I sometimes find myself wondering how our educational institutions, and the system itself, respond to this idiosyncrasy. I can see that together with the government and the media, our schools have greater control in shaping up a person’s ethical behavior.

As you can see, the simple things that we do affect our overall image as a person, as part of the society and as a nation. To those who are working as part of the corporate world, you may have observed that blue-collar workers pay a special respect to white-collar employees. At the age of 20, I feel privileged each time our security guard and maintenance people call me Sir (sometimes followed by my first name). At first, I thought that’s only because they don’t know my name but I realized that it’s actually because they look up to me as a fitting example of an educated man.

That’s more than just boosting one’s ego; I feel that everybody should set an example to others as well. Just keep in mind that wherever and whenever we face a crowd, even inside the elevator, we should never give them a reason to frown.

- Reyville of Simply Manila, Philippines