In preparation for the interview, Ruth set her dining room table for a holiday party to demonstrate how a properly set table should look.

They should have, but in America, a person who was not to the manor born so to speak can become very wealthy and successful. This is one of the reasons why America is the greatest country on the face of this earth and still considered the land of opportunity!

However, when a person does move into a social class, if you will, which is higher than the one into which he was born, he should take it upon himself to polish up his social skills so that he fits in with the people with whom he is now associating. I have been working with people for years to help them do just that. My booklet on dining etiquette and other etiquette is a quick and easy way to learn etiquette and we Americans like things that are quick and easy!

Years ago I started realizing that people who are otherwise educated and sophisticated do not seem to know even the simplest thing about dining etiquette such as which plate is their bread and butter plate. I suppose this general ignorance of dining skills has been one of the results of the breakdown of our society that occurred during the late sixties.

The interest that has been generated by my little booklet on dining etiquette has been both surprising and inspiring to me. I feel that this interest especially by young people who are about to graduate from college or who have just started their professional careers is a sign that we are now entering a time in which people want to be more refined and to live in a more genteel society.

In addition to my booklet, Tips on Modern American Dining Etiquette, I have just completed a booklet entitled, Tips on Modern American Wedding Etiquette. I am also in the process of writing two booklets; one will be entitled, Tips on Modern International Etiquette and the other, Tips on Modern American Business Etiquette.

I am being asked to be the guest speaker for many groups and to give seminars at corporations on etiquette. Recently I have started giving etiquette classes to children as young as eight years old.

I am having a great time and I feel that I am providing a badly needed service to Americans!

If you were invited to dinner at my home, you could expect to have your dinner at a beautifully and "properly" set table. I would use my best china, crystal and table linen which I would have ironed myself. The fresh flower arrangements on the tables and elsewhere would probably have been created by me. There would be beautiful music playing and the best wine and liquor would be served. The house would also be freshly cleaned, probably by me, also.

The food that you would eat would also be great, but it would have been prepared by caterers! Even though I was a Home Ec major in college, cooking was never my forte, so I gave up on being a gourmet cook years ago. I decided that I cannot do everything, so I concentrated on doing the things that I do well and enjoy doing! By having caterers do the cooking , serving and cleaning up, I can be a guest at my own party and I love being a guest!

If you were to have dinner in my home on the spur of the moment, however, do not be surprised if I haul a pizza out of the freezer and heat it up for dinner. We would still have our pizza on a properly set table with wine to drink and music playing in the background, but it would be "pizza" or something else simple!

Call waiting is a mixed blessing. My husband is out of town a lot, so when I thought that he was trying to get in touch with me, I would put my call on hold and take the incoming call.

My kids got me a caller ID system for Christmas this year so I can tell who is trying to reach me when I am on the other line. I also got voice mail on my line so people can leave messages if they call when I am talking to someone else.

I think these new services that are now offered should become mandatory for every household! It seems so rude to interrupt one conversation to take another call, but before these services were offered there really wasn�t a choice for people especially if they were expecting an important call.

Be properly and appropriately attired at all times! When I was studying fashion in college, one of my teachers said that a well dressed person always wears clothes that are "appropriate" for the occasion.

I do not understand this custom of wearing blue jeans and "T" shirts everywhere, including church! I find it very offensive to be in a house of God and to have people sitting there so casually dressed. When I was growing up, we "dressed" for church as a way of showing our respect for the institution and the God we worshipped!

I also have trouble understanding why some women in America show cleavage during the day. In our country, this is inappropriate attire probably because America is a country that is still highly influenced by our Puritan heritage.

Remember in the movie, Gone with the Wind, when Scarlett wanted to wear a dress that showed a little cleavage for the daytime party at Twelve Oaks? Her mammy was hysterical and kept saying, "It ain�t fittin�, it ain�t fittin�!" Well, it wasn�t "fittin" in Scarlett�s day and it isn�t "fittin" today either at least not in the United States of America.

In some of the Latin American countries, however, I have found that women dress very provocatively even during the day and at the office. It is apparently acceptable in the Latin culture for women to do this, but then the Puritans didn�t land on their shores to set up housekeeping! Generally speaking though "professional" business women do dress conservatively during the day even in Latin countries.

Women who are in business in the United States of America should be especially conscious about dressing properly during business hours. Too much cleavage shown and, in fact, skirts that are too short or tight, too much make-up, etc., etc., etc. all send the wrong messages.

Business women do not need to dress like men and in fact this is equally undesirable. Women may now dress in a feminine style for their business day and still be taken seriously. They should save their sexy clothes for after 5:00 pm. however!

You can tell a lot about a person by the way he eats his food!