Fraternity mother teaches
etiquette
By Sarah Szczepanski
Assistant
Features Editor
"Mom" Nonnie Cameron can tell right away
if someone has been trained in etiquette by the bottom button of his
or her jacket.
If the bottom button is buttoned, the person has
not been trained.
It’s just a rule, said Cameron, the national
authority on etiquette for Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity, and the housemother
for the local chapter.
Today is national thank you day, and Cameron said
that this is a good opportunity for Purdue students to learn about basic
etiquette.
"It’s a good idea to make people aware
of basic etiquette," said Cameron. "I can teach anyone as
long as they have a teachable, trainable spirit."
One of Cameron’s objectives as housemother
is to share her knowledge of etiquette with the men in the house.
The etiquette that Cameron teaches is helpful to
Wade Miller, a junior in the School of Engineering, and a member of
Sigma Phi Epsilon.
"She is a huge asset to our house and to campus
in general," Miller said.
Cameron has her certification in U.S and Asian
etiquette.
As the wife of a navy man, the strict military
protocol ignited her interest and started her career in etiquette, Cameron
said.
In March of 1992, Cameron traveled to Purdue to
give a speech on gentlemanly behavior to the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity.
The men asked her to become their house mom.
"If I could just teach those boys to hold
knives and forks correctly," she said.
According to Cameron, the top three etiquette problem
areas for college students include dinner, dress, and interpersonal
skills.
Interpersonal skills are especially important,
Cameron said. Her first rule for interpersonal skills is to maintain
eye contact while holding a conversation.
A person should also be interested in what the
other person is saying and limit talking about themselves, she said.
One trick in conversation is using interrogatives: who, what, where,
when, why and how, according to Cameron.
"For example, if I ask one of my little nephew
what his favorite subject is, I will get a better conversation starter
than if I just ask him if he enjoys school," Cameron said. "It’s
like playing ball back and forth."
Cameron said that one of the most important places
that students should practice etiquette is during job interviews, where
the interviewee should give a firm handshake, maintain eye contact and
arrive early.
Dining etiquette is especially important with future
employers, Cameron said. "It’s not a free meal, they are watching
what you are doing," she said. "People can tell. Etiquette
is fine tuning; the attention to detail."
It is important to send a thank you note within
24 hours of a job interview, regardless of whether you are offered the
job, Cameron said. Her reasoning is that if there were was a
problem that came up with the person who would have gotten the job,
and then the interviewers would offer it to the person who sent the
note.
"It’s not common sense, but it’s
smart," Cameron said. "You’re already a step ahead."
Thanks can be expressed through an email, a phone
call or a personal letter, but Cameron said the form of the note is
not important. "It depends on the culture of the company,"
she said.
The important characteristic of all thank you notes
is that they should be enthusiastic and speak from the heart; this is
especially important with family members, Cameron said.
"It’s an expression of thanks, not for
the gift, but for the relationships. When you send a thank you card,
for say, a sweater, you should write something about how you wore the
sweater and thought about the giver when you wore it," she said.
Gifts are not the only requirement for a thank
you to be given, said Cameron, who encourages students to thank professors
and guest speakers in their classes.
"All people want is to be appreciated,"
she said. "Appreciation is more motivation than money."
After 32 years in the airline business, Cameron
owns her own business in downtown Lafayette called Etiquette Plus. She
travels to colleges and corporations to speak about etiquette in different
matters, and is in the process of developing her own personal etiquette
program.
· Cameron can be reached for etiquette questions
at nonnie@momnonnie.com
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