Hold the door for an old man. Old ladies can take care of themselves; they've been doing it long enough.

Start a conversation with someone with whom you have "nothing in common" and no possibility of scoring with, networking with, or even seeing again. In other words, a conversation just for the civilized hell of it.

Sports (and the often barely withheld violence around them) have become one of the few modern ways to connect with strangers. They give an amazing number of geeks things to talk about. In the old days we settled for, "Hello, how are you?

There are certain restaurants where you should photograph the food rather than eat it. These are great places to bring a narcissistic boyfriend before you break up.

Eat without the TV going on. Learn to appreciate food with only the entertainment of conversation-yours and someone else's.

Try to dwell on the people you'd like to love, instead of all the people you do loathe.

I prefer the "tackiest" person in the world to the stylish person who has no tact.