An Example of Why Manners Matter
It's no secret that manners can take you far. But, just how far can they take you?
Ask General Peter Chiarelli! Despite being a veteran, four-star general, and the second-highest ranking officer in the United States Army, White House adviser, Valerie Jarrett, only saw his striped pants when she was sitting down. Mistaking him for a waiter, she asked him to get her a glass of wine. It wasn't until he returned and poured her a glass of wine that she realized her mistake. Of course, she was mortified when she saw him in his full dress uniform! Can you imagine?
Ironically enough, many servicemen and higher-ranking officers do somewhat resemble waiters and often joke about this during formal events. Personally, I have an acquaintance who graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy and, if you look through his pictures in full dress uniform on Facebook, you could easily mistake him for a waiter. Despite a chestful of medals, General Chiarelli not only got her a glass of wine, but, went as far as to invite Ms. Jarrett to his home.
"It was an honest mistake that ANYONE could have made. She was sitting, I was standing and walking behind her and all she saw were the two stripes on my pants which were almost identical to the waiters pants — REALLY. She apologized and will come to the house for dinner if a date can be worked out in March," Chiarelli wrote in an e-mail.
Now, this is what I really thought was a wonderful, diplomatic thing to say:
"As a 'laugh' I poured her a glass of wine — it was only good fun. Yes, it was an honest mistake and anyone who says otherwise is trying to make it something it was not."
Personally, as a president of a student organization and writer, it is tempting for me to go on "power trips". However, this is a story of how humility wins that I will always remember.
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