I'm sick of being the nice guy who finishes last.

[snot]

4. I struggle to suppress the urge to rant about a need for more, better etiquette training.

Things like "ghosting" are imho unacceptable. Communicate about what's going on – whether due to unforeseen circumstances or your own changed priorities – and give the other person an opportunity, without avoidable delay, to decide whether to wait for you, write you off completely, or give you another chance another time. Ghosting is not only rude, it's inefficient.

(Another pet peeve: If you initiate a phone call, after someone at the other end says hello, you should say: "This is [your first name] [your lastname] with [your business entity if applicable]; may I please speak with [Mr./Mrs./Ms.] [first name] [last name]?" Because if you don't want to reveal who you are or you're not sure who you're calling, you probably shouldn't be calling at all.)

(I also abhor name-calling. If you have a problem with someone's behavior, state the facts of what they did or didn't do and how it affects you or those you care about; and if your objections don't hold water on that basis, you should probably re-examine them. Name-calling merely escalates hostilities and usually just impedes any progress toward an actual solution.)

(Thanks for letting me rant a bit.)