I'm "Old Fashioned"

[Bathsheba]

It's happening more and more often. People are always telling me "Oh, that's the old way of doing it...".

Don't get me wrong, I love old fashioned things... but it's kinda getting embarrassing being told that most of my ideas and ways are old fashioned. Today a recruitment agent told me the way i planned to do my resume was out of date... and to do it another way... fair enough... what ever gets the job. I also do seemingly old fashioned things like putting two character spaces after full stops when i type text. I have learnt to left justify everything though... i no longer sign my name on the right LOL (um, maybe no one here EVER did that LOL) Remember when you were taught to write your home address on the top right of a letter??? no???

ok... so this is a thread for those (anyone) having to adjust to newer, better, upgraded ways of doing things. Is there anything else i might get caught out by, mainly in the workplace? Do people still call senior staff by surnames? eg Mr Jones? I once worked in a kitchen (Parliamnet house) where if you called the chefs by their names they cracked it... it had to be "chef". In my last job most of the teachers still preferred to be called "Mrs Surname" infront of the students... i guess it comes down to how they introduce themselves? DH works in a very conservative industry in which he calls most of his older clients by their surnames. Maybe this has sheltered me from the real world??? Is it just Australia that things are so casual now?

Do you think there will come a point in your life that you will be too set in your ways to change? I never thought i would... i always thoughts I would adapt and keep upgrading my ideas and ways.... now i'm not so sure... it's quite confronting. I don't care what the world does... i will NOT wear thongs to a job interview unless it's for the job as thong saleperson!!!

[Willow]

The last law firm I worked at was one of the 'big' ones in the city (Sydney) and even there we NEVER called partners or senior associates by their last name ie Mr Smith. It was always their first names. Even the Managing Partner was referred to by his first name.

i will NOT wear thongs to a job interview unless it's for the job as thong saleperson!!!

I don't think we've gone that casual Bath!

[Bathsheba]

At the recruitment agency in the city today i saw more than 1 client wearing thongs... i guess they could have been there for other reasons... maybe they just ducked in to send a fax... I was there for a meeting with an agent to help me find a job/write a resume. I saw women wearing black thongs with glittery dresses and HATS on their way (not coming home) from the races this year... maybe they were saving their feet for the actual race-course but there is no way known i would wear thongs and a nice frock/hat in public... so i MUST be old fashioned

[Mak]

I must be too! It is funny how quickly things can change - I work with alot of older people as customers and I cannot manage to call them by their first name unless I have been invited to. I personally think that it is a little forward to assume that when you are in a professional capacity....probably says more about me though! I also cannot bring myself to send text messages with abbreviations and still use punctuation. YES even 2 spaces after a full stop! Some habits die hard I guess. I also prefer to bake things rather than buy, minimise the amount of jars/preprepared food we eat, we also save up for big purchases rather than buy all new and put it on credit. This seems quite different to many of my peers.
A question off on a tangent. Do you think much of your 'old fashionedness' is also linked to courtesy and manners?

[AliBaby]

I dont think you are old fashioned Bath.

Some things should never go out of fashion iykwim.

As a teacher, I always address another teacher as Mrs or Mr..... in front of children as you need to set an example and the same with parents unless they specifically state that they would like to be called by their first name.

I dont get as dressed up for work as what might have been done in the past but the job description of a teacher has changed as well so I dress according to that. Def no thongs but if they are sandal type thongs I will wear those, along with jeans if we are dong something outside or its a 'play day'. If we have a formal assembly or something important on I would dress up more but with being on the floor with the kids and teaching sport you have to be a bit more practical.

The education system & the constant introduction of new technology has a lot of answer for in regards to writing, communicating, etc. I think it will continue to update with time.

I wasn't very impressed with a school that's about to give every child an ipod to look at their text books on!!! I would hate for books to go out of fashion!!!

Very interesting thread. BBL when i have put DD down.

[Lulu]

I got told off (incredulously) by a librarian for having 2 spaces after a full stop when I was printing off a paper for uni and that was aaages ago. I wonder when the change happened?

[butterfly_warrior]

I don't care what anyone says, I'm sticking to my two spaces after a full stop, and NOTHING is going to stop me! It's something that's so ingrained from my days of learning to type on an actual typewriter that there's no way I can change the habit. It's automatic now - hit full stop or any other sentence-ending punctuation and double tap the space bar. I just can't not do it!

I also remember writing my address at the top of letters. Do people not do that any more?

At work, we call each other by first names in the staff room and by Mr, Mrs, Miss whatever in front of students. You do slip up occasionally, and the students generally all call us just Sir or Miss (regardless of marital status) these days. It bugs me, but I doubt there's anything I can do about it. I am tempted to just start calling them "student" when they do that, but I'm not sure they'd get the point I'm trying to make. Even the principal is referred to by first name when not in front of students.

I remember when I was at uni, straight out of high school - I went around calling all my lecturers Dr. XXX or Professor YYY, I couldn't use their first name, except for a few that my father worked with and I'd grown up around. It spun me out when my peers used their first names in conversation with them - I just couldn't cope!

BW

[Floweryfields]

I am clearly old fashioned as I didn't even know that you don't put two spaces after a fullstop. How do you possibly change that in your brain anyway and why don't you?
I have a number of young girls work for me and am regularly reminded how 'old' (I'm 33) I am! I just cannot for the life of me use predictive text, just can't do it!

[Inanna]

I iron my pillowcases & sheets with lavender water...

[Willow]

I don't know about Melbourne Bath, but in Sydney a lot of the girls (me included) wear thongs to and from work on public transport to save our poor feet from the heels! Especially in summer. We would have our work shoes at work and would change them when we got to the office.

[Inanna]

I think I am old fashioned sometimes too...
However, I have never prescribed to teh Mr Mrs thing... Especially teachers - my kids teachers are all called by their first name. I actually don't know one of their surnames!... ... I grew up thinking I had lots of Aunties and Uncles - really it was my mothers way of skirting around the first name issue. Aunty jan was really Jan Smith! No aunty at all!

I am 42 so I learned the same - 2 spaces after a full stop, signature, addy etc...
It's all changing and evolving.

I am in the medical profession & when I began we had a Matron - she was Matron to everyone... Then there were the surgeons who were Mr... Then the Doctors who obviously were doctor, Sister, Nurse etc. Noone every referred to anyone by their first name. EVER!

I now wouldnt dream of calling the doctors I know by Dr... They are their names to me... But like Leesa I have always gotten away with stuff others may not! I would never call now answer the phone Sister... However, I would state my name & if needed my role. I am very casual with names - not with my work but with the frills. I am not one who cowtails & I think the "toity ness" of some titles gets me annoyed... HOWEVER - there is a place... My little girl has crawled onto my lap so I wil BBL

[maz]

I grew up thinking I had lots of Aunties and Uncles - really it was my mothers way of skirting around the first name issue. Aunty jan was really Jan Smith! No aunty at all!

and I still call them aunty and uncle. My kids call my closest friends aunty/uncle.
I have one nephew who call's j and me by first name...no aunty and uncle and it grates me. I have spoken to his mother about it and she said she wanted him to grow up being 'friends' with us all and believed aunty and uncle was uncalled for. Dame shame she didnt ask us what we'd like to be called...were she asked FIL what he'd like. Yet my children refer to her at aunty SIL and everything we sign for nephew has uncle j and aunty m on it.

I also think that the 'older' generation have gotten tighter lots....they seem pushy and rude to younger children. I dont see many older owman gooing or gahing over babies anymore...they tend to walk around if cat bum faces these days .

I say hello to my older neighbour to out left, we share fruit and vegies we grow in our gardens, yet her husband vertially RUNS inside when he see's out car entering the street. Anyone would think we smelt

[Inanna]

Your family sounds like mine Maz. The way my mother dealt with it really turned me off the whole Aunty Uncle thing.
The reason I don't like it is that it creates a barrier to my way of thinking. Though I can see the way you are explaining it it marks a boundary for really special people in your life. I get that.

I find mail addressed in the past to Mr & Mrs DH very very uncool... though I also know it was the done thing. I am me I am not Mrs DH... I never used the MRS thing... I have always been just my name.

[Lolli]

Bath, I still sign my name and write my address on the righthand side The left is too American for me. I love getting letters from my gran and uncle, who address them to 'Mr and Mrs Dear Husband'. And last time I went to the races, I wore a hat and gloves (why doesn't anyone wear gloves to the races anymore?) and was thoroughly digusted by all the 'ladies' who were walking around blind drunk at the end of the day, shoes in hand.

Thongs, sneakers and jeans were de riguer at the last job interview I went to Very sad.

[briggsy's girl]

the thongs in recruitment agencies - sigh - i think you'll find they're the ones that HAVE to be there, not the ones that want to get a job. My DH doesn't "do" shoes unless they're work boots - so he wears leather sandals to important things (like job interviews) with cargo shorts and a dress polo... the type of work he does, that's the standard of dress.

i noticed you mentioned call centre work on FB - the way you dressed for your interview is completely appropriate for a lot of call centres - but not all. we have a "relaxed corporate" dress code - no jeans, shorts only if they're dress shorts, no spaghetti straps, dress shirts, no colarless tees etc. others i know are much more casual. the commetn we've had is if you dress business like, you act it - if you dress like a sloth, your work ethic becomes more casual.

i still do two spaces after full stops most of the time - it's how i was taught! i don't do it so much now that i chat a lot (the same as i don't use caps due to injury in my wrist making the shift key hurt! but in formal docs i do)

i think a lot has changed - but i'm not 30 yet and everything you've mentioned is stuff that i was taught and am having to teach myself to NOT do now!

[ladybird11]

I think sometimes it comes down to the people involved.

For instance, I can somehow get away with calling my Superintendent at work just 'boss' or by his first name. Most others would get crucified for doing the same thing and have to call him Superintendent _____. Same even goes for some Assistant Commissioners.

Thanks for the news about the two spaces after a full stop being 'out' now. I started a thread on that and the majority of BB girls who replied agreed that only one space was needed - and you've doubly confirmed that for me!

My job is always changing - but I am quite laid back and easy going. I feel it makes me more approachable - thus allowing people not to be afraid to ask me a question when in a room full of ppl (I'm a public speaker most of the time at work - so I come across all sorts of ppl aged from 4 yrs old to 94 yrs old). I've dealt with 'internal' customers from Cadets straight up to the Commissioner. I must have the gift of the gab. But in saying that apparently I'm too 'officious' at home - can't please everyone!

[Tish]

Thanks for the news about the two spaces after a full stop being 'out' now. I started a thread on that and the majority of BB girls who replied agreed that only one space was needed - and you've doubly confirmed that for me!

Apparently computers automatically put a large enough space after a fullstop to not require 2 spaces

[sas85]

If I called my boss Mr "...." instead of his firstname he would in all seriousness think I was being sarcastic or coming on to him. My GP's introduce themselves by their first names - that seemed weird to me as was always Dr "...." it's like I'd like to make an appointment with Dr . . . umm . . Jane" it feels wrong to me still.

I double tap - and I learned not to do it and not to indent and to put everything on the left when I first did my business course at 15, but it's easier to read and to be honest - unless we're talking about a subpoena or something of that nature - as long as it looks professional, sounds professional, everything is grammatically correct and easy to read in obvious business format - I don't think it's an issue for most industries. I'm sure they'd rather have that then someone who might slip into 'sms' talk or slang in their business correspondence.

And, I'd much rather have someone come in for a job interview and be a bit more old-fashioned (more formal and polite) then take liberties and be overly casual without being invited to do so. (I would doubt the common sense of a person who came in for an office interview with thongs on - though afterwards some businesses might expess a casual dress code etc) - even my brother puts on at least a business shirt and pants for interview and he's a factory worker) I don't really think it's possible to be too old-fashioned in that sense KWIM. I mean, if you walk into a job interview and say "nice to meet you Mr Smith" and he says "call me John" that's friendly, comfortable and not awkward. If you walk into a job interview and say "nice to meet you John" and he looks at you and says "Mr Smith" or his PA does - well - that'd be hard to recover from.