Lifestyle: etiquette: the virtue of a light touch

Self-tutoring about lifestyle: the tutor mentions some cases of manners.

I recall one time a friend of mine and I were in his car, going to visit someone. Finding the driveway vacant, he parked therein, as close as he could to the house.

“You shouldn’t park here,” I weighed in.

“Why not?”

“Because we’re visitors here,” I pointed out. “This is someone’s spot. You should park on the road.”

My friend didn’t relent; we went in and began our visit. However, when another resident of the house (other than whom we were visiting) returned, my friend had to go out and move his car so that the parking could be corrected. (Of course.)

Another time I watched a visitor enter a house. They walked in to find all the blinds drawn. Immediately they opened all of them: “You can’t beat natural light,” they commented. Apparently it didn’t occur to them that the person they were visiting wanted the blinds closed, which is why they were.

To me, a light touch means trying to avoid making an impact. Be it parking in someone else’s spot, or opening all the blinds to someone’s room they want dark, it’s bad form to arrive at a place and then start changing things for those already there.

I’ve met some people who just can’t seem to understand this idea. One person who did, however, I encountered at a parking lot, decades ago. We met spontaneously and started talking. Later, when we both went back to our own cars, I realized his was parked on the road. That’s a light touch:)