# Courteous (courteo.us)

> Courteous is a researched, plain-spoken reference on modern etiquette: tipping, email and texting, dinner parties, weddings, condolences, travel and cultural customs, with every statistic cited. A new Daily Dilemma (a modern etiquette question with a verdict, scripts and sources) is published every day.

Every page has a Markdown twin: append `index.md` to any page URL (e.g. https://courteo.us/tipping-guide/index.md). Statistics are cited inline with links to the original publishers; see https://courteo.us/sources/ for methodology. Content is written and dated by The Courteous Editors. Last build: 2026-10-21.

## The Daily Dilemma

- [The Daily Dilemma archive](https://courteo.us/daily/): A new modern etiquette dilemma answered every day: a clear verdict, the reasoning, exactly what to say, and the sources behind it.
- [The tablet at a self-serve counter is asking for 20%. Do I have to tip?](https://courteo.us/daily/tip-screen-self-checkout/index.md): 2026-10-21 · No. At a self-checkout kiosk or a counter where you order and pick up yourself, a tip is optional; tap No Tip or Custom without apology, and tip when someone genuinely did extra work for you.

## Tipping & Service

- [How much to tip: a US tipping guide for 2026](https://courteo.us/tipping-guide/index.md): Customary US tips for restaurants, bars, delivery, rideshare, salons, hotels and more, what 2025 surveys say people actually tip, and how to handle tip screens.
- [Holiday tipping: who to thank at year’s end, and how much](https://courteo.us/holiday-tipping/index.md): Who to tip at the holidays and how much: housekeepers, sitters, teachers, mail carriers, trash collectors and more, with 2025 survey data and gift rules.
- [Courteous customer-service phrases, for both sides of the counter](https://courteo.us/customer-service-phrases/index.md): Polite phrases for customers and service staff: what to say instead of common irritants, how to complain politely, and templates for calls, chats and emails.

## Work & Digital Life

- [Email etiquette: how to write messages people are glad to get](https://courteo.us/email-etiquette/index.md): Practical email etiquette for 2026: subject lines, greetings, reply times, reply-all, CC and BCC, tone, sign-offs and follow-ups, with templates you can adapt.
- [Workplace etiquette: courtesy at the office, in meetings and on chat](https://courteo.us/workplace-etiquette/index.md): Workplace etiquette for hybrid teams: meetings, chat apps, shared spaces, after-hours messages, credit and feedback, plus what research says incivility costs.
- [Texting and phone etiquette: calls, texts, group chats and phones in public](https://courteo.us/texting-phone-etiquette/index.md): Texting and phone etiquette for 2026: call vs. text, reply times, group chats, voice notes, speakerphone in public, and how to stop phubbing people.
- [Video call etiquette: courteous Zoom, Teams and Meet meetings](https://courteo.us/video-call-etiquette/index.md): Video call etiquette for work and personal calls: camera on or off, muting, backgrounds, eating, chat, recording consent and easing video-call fatigue.
- [Social media etiquette: posting, tagging, commenting and disagreeing well](https://courteo.us/social-media-etiquette/index.md): Social media etiquette for 2026: what to post, asking before tagging, kids’ photos, commenting, disagreeing well, harassment and unfriending gracefully.

## Dining & Hosting

- [Table manners for modern meals](https://courteo.us/table-manners/index.md): A practical guide to table manners: how a place setting works, American vs. continental style, napkin etiquette, phones at the table, and restaurant courtesy.
- [Dinner party etiquette: what hosts and guests owe each other](https://courteo.us/dinner-party-etiquette/index.md): Dinner party etiquette for hosts and guests: invitations, planning a menu, when to arrive, what to bring, helping out, leaving on time and saying thank you.
- [Hosting guests with food allergies and dietary restrictions](https://courteo.us/dietary-restrictions-allergies/index.md): How to host guests with food allergies, celiac disease or vegetarian and vegan diets: what to ask, menu planning, cross-contact, labels and what guests say.
- [RSVP etiquette: how and when to reply to an invitation](https://courteo.us/rsvp-etiquette/index.md): RSVP etiquette made simple: how fast to reply, what “regrets only” means, plus-ones and kids, changing your answer, and wording to accept or decline.

## Life Events & Gifts

- [Wedding guest etiquette: what the couple hopes you’ll know](https://courteo.us/wedding-guest-etiquette/index.md): How to RSVP, what to spend on a wedding gift, decoding dress codes, plus-one rules, phones at unplugged ceremonies, and being a guest couples remember.
- [How to write a thank-you note, with templates for every occasion](https://courteo.us/thank-you-notes/index.md): When to send a thank-you note, how soon, what to write, and ready-to-adapt templates for wedding gifts, cash, job interviews, hosts, sympathy support and kids.
- [Gift etiquette: how to give (and receive) gracefully](https://courteo.us/gift-etiquette/index.md): Practical gift etiquette: budgets, registries, cash and gift cards, gift receipts, regifting, office gifts, and receiving a gift you don’t love.
- [Condolence etiquette: what to say, write and do when someone is grieving](https://courteo.us/condolence-etiquette/index.md): What to say (and avoid) when someone dies, sympathy card wording, funeral etiquette, bringing food, and how to keep showing up in the weeks after.

## Travel & Culture

- [Airplane etiquette: how to be a good seatmate](https://courteo.us/airplane-etiquette/index.md): Airplane etiquette for reclining, armrests, overhead bins, boarding, kids and cabin noise, plus what surveys and FAA data say about bad behavior in the air.
- [Cultural etiquette by country: Japan, France, the UK, Germany, India, China, Mexico and the UAE](https://courteo.us/cultural-etiquette-by-country/index.md): Greetings, dining, gifts, dress and tipping in Japan, France, the UK, Germany, India, China, Mexico and the UAE, from tourism boards and government advice.
- [Tipping abroad: how much to tip in other countries](https://courteo.us/tipping-abroad/index.md): How tipping works in Japan, France, the UK, Germany and Mexico, per official tourism boards, plus a simple method for any country you don’t know.

## Everyday Courtesy

- [Neighbor etiquette: how to be (and keep) a good neighbor](https://courteo.us/neighbor-etiquette/index.md): Practical neighbor etiquette for noise, parking, pets, fences, packages and introductions, plus how to raise a problem politely and a sample note to a neighbor.
- [Teaching kids manners: an age-by-age guide](https://courteo.us/kids-manners/index.md): An age-by-age guide to teaching children manners: greetings, table habits, thank-you notes, screens and sharing, plus what parents say they value most.
- [Are people getting ruder? What the data actually says](https://courteo.us/state-of-civility/index.md): What surveys from Pew, SHRM and Civility in America reveal about rudeness in public, at work and online, why it matters, and what each of us can do about it.

## The Salon: interactive tools

- [The Salon: Etiquette Tools & Games](https://courteo.us/etiquette-tools/index.md): Free etiquette tools: a US tip calculator, the dinner-party etiquette quiz, a thank-you note generator and a tipping-around-the-world explorer.
- [Tip calculator: how much to tip, by service](https://courteo.us/tip-calculator/index.md): Free US tip calculator using customary ranges for restaurants, delivery, rideshare, salons, bartenders, housekeeping, valets and movers. Split and round up.
- [Would you survive the dinner party? An etiquette quiz](https://courteo.us/etiquette-quiz/index.md): A free 15-question etiquette quiz on arrival times, wine, forks, RSVPs, plus-ones, tipping and more. Earn a title from Charming Rogue to Duchess of Decorum.
- [Thank-you note generator](https://courteo.us/thank-you-note-generator/index.md): Write a thank-you note in a minute: pick the occasion (wedding gift, cash, interview, host, sympathy, birthday), add details, choose a tone and copy.
- [Tipping around the world explorer](https://courteo.us/tipping-abroad/#explorer): An interactive map of tipping customs from official tourism boards, with an honest “check locally” wherever we have no data.

## Machine-readable

- [llms-full.txt](https://courteo.us/llms-full.txt): every live guide and dilemma as one Markdown document
- [Content index (JSON)](https://courteo.us/api/content.json): every page with title, description, type, dates and Markdown URL
- [Daily Dilemma (JSON)](https://courteo.us/api/daily.json): all published dilemmas with verdicts and sources
- [RSS feed](https://courteo.us/feed.xml): the Daily Dilemma, full text
- [Sitemap](https://courteo.us/sitemap.xml)

## Optional

- [About Courteous](https://courteo.us/about/index.md): who writes it, editorial standards, corrections
- [Sources & methodology](https://courteo.us/sources/index.md): every cited source
- [All Things AI](https://allthingsn.com/): free apps, tools and guides (same publisher)
- [PantryRx](https://pantryrx.ai/): pantry-first meal planning (same publisher)