1. Always admit to a mistake you make be it accidental or unexpected. Start by saying sorry and see whether you can help re-address to a correct way. This can be: -
• You are absent minded and bump into someone after which they drop what they may have been carrying! Say sorry and help pick up what has dropped. Be hopeful that what ever dropped is not broken or damaged because the situation may stink. Just remain apologetic and calmer. Remember you want to get out of the mess as soon as possible.
• You thought you heard her or him say come and there you go! With the door open you find them dressing or partly naked and they respond by screaming as they fidget in search of something to cover themselves with. Take your face off and say sorry as you close yourself out the room.
• You wave at or say hi to the wrong person. Some people like me have a common face. I was given a hug by some fellow who called me wrong names afterwards. He met some one else not even my twin brother if I had one. He however was quick to apologise upon realising that I remained astonished and never had any slight idea about what he was talking about.
2. Stay in a queue or give up and try being early the next time! Don’t even think of cutting in! Everyone has his or her precious time and energy, which they hope to reserve by spending as little time as possible on that queue.
3. If you are driving always make use of traffic rules or give signs correctly. Road sings are there to help you and as road users you can help each other by exercising patiency with correct use of the road. More than half of the road accidents are due to careless use of the road including not observing traffic rules.
4. Contribute to a discussion only if you know or are sure about what you are talking about. Exposing your ignorance will just bring down your dignity which is not easy to build. And when you have to make an objection, make sure you back it up with a fact. Try and have an alternative to a point you disagree to. That way you will not be seen only as a critic.
5. Curry a hunk all the time. This comes in handy at several situations including wiping off your oily face after some strenuous work. When you have a flue, you are seen as being tidy when you excuse yourself and take a blow of your nose, of coarse not too close to someone.
6. Be warm and greet even strangers with a smile at a special gathering or conference. That way you make it easier for yourself if you may need to talk to them later. If possible ask them about where they may be from and get to know bit of background.
7. Don’t always be right!! or give excuses or explanations but instead learn to give chance and listen to what others have to say. No one knows everything and you may just be learning something new!
8. Like we all once learnt at nursery school, always use pedestrian crossing. There, you are assured of reaping some money in case some driver hits you, of course only if you don’t die!
9. Be helpful to someone seeking some help. Give them directions if they are lost or help them with some money if they have been genuinely robed. Remember you never know what tomorrow brings and you may just feature as the next victim more entrenched than that person requesting.
10. Throw litter only in litterbins and pits. Many cities especially in Africa could have been much cleaner if only many could be take this. Instead of flowers blooming papers and plastics dominate as facial city make-ups of city centres as can be evidenced when a whirlwind comes around. Look around your community or city and see whether you can come up with a “Keep The City Clean Campaign” and you can start up by donating more litterbins or doing some cleaning routines after arranging with your local municipals councils.