Etiquette makes the world go round

The first speaker to be introduced by chairman Peter Kerr at the latest meeting of East Kilbride Speakers’ Club was Tony Dinwoodie.

Tony delivered a thoughtprovoking speech where he presented a convincing case that the unwritten code of conduct which governs social behaviour, known as etiquette, is more important in maintaining a functional society than the statutory laws of the land.

He substantiated his argument with excellent and often amusing anecdotal examples from everyday life of what is acceptable behaviour and what is not.

Anyone who has ever wondered how the kitchens in restaurants and hotels manage to prepare so many differing meals to order found the answer in Chris Smyth’s speech.

In a colourful manner he explained that this depended on each member of a strict hierarchy in the kitchen performing specific duties, all the way from the dishwasher up to the head chef; with the surprising news that the head chef does very little cooking – his main function is to prepare the menu.

Bob Hunter followed with an amusing account of his life, beginning with his childhood as a boy with six sisters through his school years and national service in the army before moving on to married life.

He described the first three years of marriage as ones where the wife speaks and the husband listens – after that the neighbours listen.

The main speeches concluded with Alastair Fraser giving an exhibition of how powerful word pictures can be in creating a very humorous speech when he told the story of 4ft 10in tall Shooie Douglas’s life with his mother in a Glasgow single-end, his vain attempts to find work and how witnessing a Glasgow tramcar crashing changed his life.

Alex Rintoul challenged the spontaneous speakers when he presented his topic subjects and David Webster provided sound advice in his general evaluation.

Visitors to the club are welcome. Details can be obtained from secretary Paul Munday on (01355) 223894.