Table Manners?

My parents raised me the same way and I can't stand to see or hear other people chew and slurp on their food. They sound like animals. My cousin ate like that and I remember kicking his ass after dinner everytime he came over to eat. Not because he ate that way, but because he knew that I couldn't stand it and did it even louder and nastier on purpose. Anyway. How hard is it to chew with your damn mouth closed anyway?

My Dad can't breath through his nose, he has to sleep with a special machine to keep him breathing.

He still chews with his mouth closed.

quote m2caldwell

I'm lucky my parents cared enough to teach me how to behave...

Just because someone has lack of table manners doesn't mean they have lack of decency. My father is one of the most caring and decent individuals you could ever meet though he was raised in a foreign country where survival is an everyday matter so he isn't used to the rules of table manner. The point I am trying make is not to judge somebody by the way they eat. I know alot of people that lack table manners but they're great people.

quote m2caldwell

Oh, I didn't mean to give the impression that I think if you have poor table manners, you're a bad person. Not at all! It's the other kinds of manners I meant. You know, please and thank you, basic civility and such. Basic courtesy seems to be eroding in our society. I recently offered to hold a door for a woman who had her hands full, and she looked at me as if I was from another planet. It seems that we are so accustomed to rudenessand indifference that any politeness comes as a shock. Interesting...

'Please & Thank you' is totally off table manners. We're talking about the way people eat, not the way they speak. Take my father for example, he eats with his mouth open but he always says 'Please & Thank you' - he open doors for people who can't do it as easily, and he has given donations. We are debating about table manners though.

I personally don't like the fact that it matters how you set up your table. Forks have to go here as a butter knife has to go there. Well, what's the differents if I switch them around?

Table Manners? what are those? lol..

Well I'm 24, so you know I had the basic table manners beaten into me as a young child.

silence during grace

sit up straight

chew with your mouth closed

never reach over someone else's plate to grab anything

place your napkin on your lap

chew your food 32 times each bite

when leaving the table, asked to be excused

elbows OFF the table

blah, blah, blah.

I practice half of those now. (unless I have to go to dinner at the parent's house.. then it's just as if I were a kid again)

There's a difference between prissy, useless "table manners" and just not acting like a slob.

Occasionally slurping or making other noises while you are eating or talking at the table are just the way things are when you are not in an anal retentive household. And I'll tell you what, somebody tried to kick MY ass or correct ME on my manners while I'm trying to enjoy a steak? They'll have another thing coming. Namely a knuckle side-course.

Mind you, this is not gnawing with my mouth open on a hunk of meat or vegitable like a masecating cow, practically hitting somebody next to you who's eating in the jaw trying to grab the potatoes, belching loudly to signify the end of a meal, or speaking with a full mouth so that the person you are talking at gets an up close and personal view of chewed food, perhaps with some of that transferred to their cheek. No, this is not what I'd advocate at the dinner table.

Eating with the right fork. Sitting up straight. Chewing a certain amount of times. Keeping your elbows off the table. That kinda victorianesque crap can go bugger itself, as well as anyone who'd correct me my habits when all I'm tryin to do is enjoy a meal and/or a freind's company.

quote m2caldwell

quote SilentScream2003

Just because someone has lack of table manners doesn't mean they have lack of decency. I know alot of people that lack table manners but they're great people.

Oh, I didn't mean to give the impression that I think if you have poor table manners, you're a bad person. Not at all! It's the other kinds of manners I meant. You know, please and thank you, basic civility and such. Basic courtesy seems to be eroding in our society. I recently offered to hold a door for a woman who had her hands full, and she looked at me as if I was from another planet. It seems that we are so accustomed to rudenessand indifference that any politeness comes as a shock. Interesting...

You know, I always hold the door open for people behind me and all I've ever gotten is a smile and a nod everywhere I go. Is all of this uncouth utter lack of any manners just OUTSIDE California? Is Cali the last nexus of decency?

This message was edited by BlackThornn on Jul 08 2003.

I think that they are needed to some degree. I don't want to see someones food but I guess it happens. But it is not the seeing it part that gets to me, it is the sound. When I chew I make sure my mouth is closed and that I keep it that way.