What's the manner?
A royal-trained etiquette expert schools rude New Yorkers on the art of politeness
Myka Meier speaks three languages: Continental European, British and American.
In other words, Meier, an etiquette expert who trained under a former member of the royal household of Queen Elizabeth II, is fluent in manners. Take the potentially awkward air kiss: In America, she explained, it’s one air kiss on one cheek. The British plant two air kisses using both cheeks, and on the Continent it’s three air kisses alternating between both cheeks.
“But no lip-smacking noises ever,” she stressed.
The founder and director of Manhattan-based Beaumont Etiquette — which offers training for nannies, hotel and restaurant staff, and those aspiring to rise through certain social or career ranks — is teaching manners via The Plaza Hotel Finishing Program at the Fifth Avenue landmark through May 3.
The two-hour Wednesday evening courses — $75 each, including cocktails and hors d’oeuvres — focus on business, dining and dating; there are also two intensive five-hour Saturday seminars for $599 a pop.
At the Jan. 18 debut class, some two dozen millennials sat bolt upright in the hotel’s Palm Court restaurant, practicing the proper way to sit. Lesson one: Don’t sit bolt upright.
“Don’t sit like a fembot in the ‘Austin Powers’ movies with your bosom pushed out,” Meier said, and several shoulders in the room relaxed.
Course attendee Rebecca Mintz, 26, who works in product marketing and lives in the East Village, thought the lessons would come in handy professionally.
“I’m always looking to improve,” she said. “It helps not only my skills, but [also so I can] give tips to people I manage.”
Phil Kiselick, 26, who works in newspaper ad sales, was also there to learn skills that will help him advance. (As Meier pointed out: “People don’t hire rude people.”)
“In ad sales, we’re always taking clients to dinner or for drinks or to basketball games,” said Kiselick, an East Village resident. “I want to know what wine to order if I am having dinner with someone who is high up in a brand.”
Mintz even thinks the training could give her love life a survival-ofthe-fittest advantage. “It could make me more critical of my date’s etiquette — and make me more picky,” she said.
Everyone agreed most New Yorkers could stand to brush up on their manners.
“Etiquette is about showing respect and kindness to everyone around you,” Meier said. “We live in a city where it’s all about [being] self-serving — climbing the ladder — and we lose track of simple decency.”