Janet CollinsLetting Them Know You Will Be There
December 29th 2009 09:24
Responding to an invitation, whether it be a private or corporate occasion, is not only giving the person who sent the invitation information so they can provide enough food or drink for you, it is basic good manners. Declining to let a host know that you will or will not be attending is just downright rude. So why do so many people just ignore this simple acknowledgement?
Most invitations will often ask for a response. That is what the RSVP means and these days with all the communication modes available to us, email, SMS, or even a mobile phone at our fingertips, we really don’t have any excuse for ignoring this simply courtesy.
In times past sending an RSVP card was the correct thing to do, responding to the invitation was not exactly difficult but took a little more effort than it does today. Despite this, many people who host or organise functions or parties continually complain that people just ignore this common courtesy and many comment that it is getting worse and worse.
This trend seems to be particularly pronounced in the corporate sector although I have heard plenty of hosts of private parties complain about the lack of response to their invitations too. From the executive to the junior worker, responses have become a thing of the past.
I cannot often work out whether people simply do not understand the work that goes into any function or party prior to the event or that they just don’t care. I tend to lean towards the latter and it is about time organisers started eliminating people from their lists who repeatedly refuse to respond and started putting people on them who show a little more manners.
The problem with people responding and then not showing us, is equally as frustrating and often disappointing to someone who has gone to the trouble of providing for these guests. Doing this can be upsetting for other guests as well, particularly but not limited to a sit down dinner. I was working at one not so long ago where half the table failed to show. That left five people sitting at a table for 10, a few of whom left the function early, probably because they didn’t really enjoy sitting at a half-empty table, and could you blame them?
Work commitments can often be a very convenient excuse and no matter where we sit on the hierarchy, unexpected things can crop up, but even a late decline is better than none, even if it could disturb things such as seating arrangements.
Perhaps there are just too many invitations in circulation but if you’ve been invited to something, have a little think about the host and the other guests and let them know whether you will or will not be attending. It is a simple thing to do and will certainly do your reputation more good than harm.
Image credit: www.mirror.co.uk
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