The lost art of the RSVP

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There are a myriad of blogs about etiquette and manners and a lot of them focus on the loss of basic etiquette and manners in modern society. Ironically enough, these blogs are mostly read by people who already have manners. They read the complaints and nod knowingly, feeling the pain of the loss of decent customer service and table manners and pants that sit above teenage boys buts. But these blogs should be read by people who have no manners and who want to learn, to better themselves and move up the rungs of society.  Much like Gatsby did but I bet he already had manners, he just needed the money, which he made. You can’t buy class, not even Gatsby could have bought that. Luckily he didn’t need to buy it as he is class. He even had more class than Rhett Butler. (If you think that Rhett Butler had more class than Jay Gatsby please comment in the section below. I promise I will not judge you.

Anyway, this is yet another blog to add to the plethora of winging about how common decency has gone out the window, and with it, manners. At least it’s a one off for “Words of Happy”.

My gripe today is with the lost art of RSVPs. When an event is occurring that requires a RSVP it usually means that the host needs to know numbers for a specific reason, usually catering but it could also be to make sure there is a percentage of clowns even to the small children attending. It could be to make sure there are an even amount of swinging couples attending the swing party hosted by the innocuous neighbour. Imagine turning up to one of those shindigs and being the odd couple out – literally. Or attending a catered party and eating the share of canopies that was reserved for your food obsessed, overweight manager. If that isn’t grounds for being fired I don’t know what is. (Of course one would have to have a job with a manager to find out.)

Invitations, whether verbal or online or printed on lovely expensive paper always clearly state ‘please RSVP’ if they need an RSVP for reasons listed above. Yet people take it upon themselves to either be too lazy to bother or to see themselves above the simple task. It’s rude and egotistical.

Replying to an RSVP is not time consuming and it’s not hard. They are designed to ease the stress of the host which you should be willing to do since all you have to do is turn up and eat, or look at clowns, or have sex, depending on which party you are attending. Still, the art of the RSVP is another concept that is becoming extinct. We have already lost the black rhino, being able to have conversations with people whilst they refrain from checking their phone and we have lost Prince. How many more great things of society do we need to lose before we sit up and take notice? When you live in a society you are signing a verbal contract to live in that society which means abiding by basic rules of common decency.

When F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote; “… it is what preyed on Gatsby, what foul dust floated in the wake of his dreams …” I always thought he was referring to the super B#%*h Daisy. Now I think he was most certainly referring to people who don’t bother to RSVP.