Miss Manners and the Old Guard

Before leaving town for the weekend, I invited my alpha boy out for coffee. Along the way he walked respectfully by my left side. He held the door open for me to enter the coffee shop, He stood behind his chair until I was seated. And he listened attentively as I spoke, inserting his own astute observations during the discussion. When we left he thanked me for sharing my time with him, and I thanked him in return.

I have often been asked how I train my boys. What protocols I use. "I wish that I was taught 'Old Guard' protocols," one sir exclaimed wistfully a few months ago. "You are so lucky to have been a boy twenty years ago when the Old Guard was still around."

I laughed.

The truth, both my boys appear well-trained because they understand good manners. They say "please" and "thank you." They respect their elders in the Leather Tribe. They defer to those who have more experience. And they are always willing to help when they are asked.

There is no great mystery to protocols. No secret "Old Guard" rituals. To crack the code of the Elders, I recommend that a sir buys a copy of Miss Manners' Guide to Excruciatingly Correct Behavior, the Rosetta Stone for training a Leatherboy. The sir should begin training in the common courtesies, elucidating his verbal instructions with his own behavior. When the boy has learned the basic rules of etiquette, the sir should then move to more challenging "protocols" such as showing respect for those in the Tribe with more experience.

Using Miss Manner's tome and demonstrating her rules of etiquette by his own example, any sir can train a Leatherboy in the tradition of "Old" Leather.