A few stories to show where I'm headed with that question.
Mom was--still is--old school in some ways, one of them being that we were taught not to address anyone by her or his first name until given permission to do so. Mom lives two hours away, but Misters and Mizzes and Missuses still abound in my universe--despite the fact that I'm personally weirded-out when addressed as "Ms. Clemons." (What? Y'mean somebody mistook me for an adult???)
In the sixth grade, Mrs. Reinhart lined us up like soldiers at reveille and drilled us in making formal introductions. (In case she didn't get to you, it's "Person A, may I present Person B? Person B, this is Person A." When the genders are heterogeneous, Person A is the female. When homogeneous, Person A is the eldest of the two. Got it now? Good.)
When writing and editing (in general), the essence of Dr. Doherty stands at one shoulder, inverting and pruning passive grammar to make it vibrantly active, ruthlessly bi- and trisecting run-on sentences and so on. When I write/edit technical material, Cheryl is at my other shoulder, helping me leaven the professional tone with a variety in phrasing that keeps the reader engaged, rather than insulted by cut-and-paste boilerplate verbiage.
Several years ago, I had to pare down a carefully timed and rehearsed presentation with next to no notice before I had to present to a hundred or so co-workers. That rattled my nerves enough that I started speaking with (horrors!) my hands behind my back. In the several long seconds it took to get back to my comfort zone, part of my brain was freaking out: "Bucky's gonna kill me...Bucky's gonna kill me...Bucky's gonna kill me..." "Bucky" being my mentor on the speech team my Freshman year of college.
So, the question for you, reader, is: Whose instruction/guidance lives on inside you to the point where it's become habit? Reflex, even? Doctor Warloski, from a history class twenty-odd years ago, taps me on the shoulder to insist that I add the all-important "And why?".
