Read Online Gothic Charm School by Jillian Venters - Free Book Online
Authors: Jillian Venters
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she got her costume, and whether she can help them find one like it. âOh, itâs not a costume,â she patiently informs them. âI dress like this every day.â Depending on where she is and how busy she might be, the Lady of the Manners will sometimes offer suggestions to the costume-seekers as to where they might find gothy bits and trinkets, but usually she just continues on with whatever she was doing.
So if a Goth is mean or rude to you, what should you do? Can you name-check the Lady of the Manners and prompt an apology from the black-clad crankypants? The Lady of the Manners is sadto say that almost certainly wouldnât work. (Her plans for global domination of the Goth subculture havenât come to fruition just yet, you see.) No, what you should do isâ¦ignore the offending party. Ignore the rude behavior or, at the most, mildly point out the rudeness but donât get into any sort of argument about it. In other words, react just as you would to anyone who treated you rudely.
That is how you would treat other rude people, isnât it? You wouldnât be even ruder in return, initiating an ever-escalating war of bad behavior, would you? Forgive the Lady of the Manners for seeking to reassure herself, but sheâs seen some dreadful examples of that sort of thing. If youâre feeling especially chipper and cheeky, you could try gentlyreminding the gothy type that, âThe nice lady from Gothic Charm School always says that Goths should try to be polite,â but be warned that the gothy type in question may very well just roll her eyes at you.
A few words for the Goths reading this chapter
Look, the Lady of the Manners doesnât care how affronted your delicate spooky sensibilities are by the sight of people who obviously arenât Goths buying Goth goodies. So what? Maybe theyâre buying a present for a friend or relative. Maybe theyâve decided they finally want to explore the Goth subculture. Or maybe they are purchasing hair dye and a shirt with a bat on it for a costume. So what? There is no Secret Goth cabal that must give its stamp of approval before someone is allowed to purchase skull jewelry and stripy tights, and getting cranky about it is more than a little ridiculous. Some of you may remember a stereotype about Goths from years ago (the Lady of the Manners hasnât heard it thrown about quite as much recently but is sure that its shadow still lingers over the subculture): Goths are all stuck-up, snobby, elitist twerps who are full of themselves and donât like anyone. Does that ring any bells? The Lady of the Manners suspects that stereotype was born out of a Goth defense mechanism: stave off taunts and harassment by acting as if you donât like anyone. This strategy, while effective, just invites other sorts of problems. Now, the Lady of the Manners doesnât presume to speak for everyone else in the Goth subculture (again, while the Lady of the Manners does cherish some frivolous notions of gothy global domination, sheâs still working out some flaws in her plans), but she is awfully tired of the âGoths are allstuck-up and bitchy drama queensâ stereotype. Really, that pose just helps reinforce the notion that Goth is a crabby teen phase everyone grows out of eventually. The Lady of the Manners is of the belief that being polite to people, whether or not they share your interests, is far more shocking than being surly and arrogant. For whatever reason, people just donât expect black-clad spooksters to be polite; when we are, theyâre frequently flabbergasted and so taken aback they seem to forget whatever prejudices they may have been harboring.
The Lady of the Manners is not saying that if everyone was polite to each other the universe would be a perfect place full of rainbows and harmony and happy vampires. But you must admit, everyday life would be a lot more pleasant.
THREE
Babygoths
How to show support to
So if a Goth is mean or rude to you, what should you do? Can you name-check the Lady of the Manners and prompt an apology from the black-clad crankypants? The Lady of the Manners is sadto say that almost certainly wouldnât work. (Her plans for global domination of the Goth subculture havenât come to fruition just yet, you see.) No, what you should do isâ¦ignore the offending party. Ignore the rude behavior or, at the most, mildly point out the rudeness but donât get into any sort of argument about it. In other words, react just as you would to anyone who treated you rudely.
That is how you would treat other rude people, isnât it? You wouldnât be even ruder in return, initiating an ever-escalating war of bad behavior, would you? Forgive the Lady of the Manners for seeking to reassure herself, but sheâs seen some dreadful examples of that sort of thing. If youâre feeling especially chipper and cheeky, you could try gentlyreminding the gothy type that, âThe nice lady from Gothic Charm School always says that Goths should try to be polite,â but be warned that the gothy type in question may very well just roll her eyes at you.
A few words for the Goths reading this chapter
Look, the Lady of the Manners doesnât care how affronted your delicate spooky sensibilities are by the sight of people who obviously arenât Goths buying Goth goodies. So what? Maybe theyâre buying a present for a friend or relative. Maybe theyâve decided they finally want to explore the Goth subculture. Or maybe they are purchasing hair dye and a shirt with a bat on it for a costume. So what? There is no Secret Goth cabal that must give its stamp of approval before someone is allowed to purchase skull jewelry and stripy tights, and getting cranky about it is more than a little ridiculous. Some of you may remember a stereotype about Goths from years ago (the Lady of the Manners hasnât heard it thrown about quite as much recently but is sure that its shadow still lingers over the subculture): Goths are all stuck-up, snobby, elitist twerps who are full of themselves and donât like anyone. Does that ring any bells? The Lady of the Manners suspects that stereotype was born out of a Goth defense mechanism: stave off taunts and harassment by acting as if you donât like anyone. This strategy, while effective, just invites other sorts of problems. Now, the Lady of the Manners doesnât presume to speak for everyone else in the Goth subculture (again, while the Lady of the Manners does cherish some frivolous notions of gothy global domination, sheâs still working out some flaws in her plans), but she is awfully tired of the âGoths are allstuck-up and bitchy drama queensâ stereotype. Really, that pose just helps reinforce the notion that Goth is a crabby teen phase everyone grows out of eventually. The Lady of the Manners is of the belief that being polite to people, whether or not they share your interests, is far more shocking than being surly and arrogant. For whatever reason, people just donât expect black-clad spooksters to be polite; when we are, theyâre frequently flabbergasted and so taken aback they seem to forget whatever prejudices they may have been harboring.
The Lady of the Manners is not saying that if everyone was polite to each other the universe would be a perfect place full of rainbows and harmony and happy vampires. But you must admit, everyday life would be a lot more pleasant.
THREE
Babygoths
How to show support to
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