Table Manners - Pet Peeves

I can be crude. I know this. However, I was still raised to not chew with my mouth open or talk with my mouth full. Years of being told it wasn't polite (read: lady like) to do that, it disgusts me when others do it.

With a young lady on the way, I will most likely teach her to be a lady at the dinner table....and a crazy bitch on the pitch, field, or court.

What were you taught growing up that drives you crazy when you see others not being so polite? Do you feel as a society we are leaving etiquette behind?

 

Loud chewing. Makes me sick. I was friends with a girl in undergrad that sounded like a cow chewing cud even drinking water. Still have nightmares.

Talking with your mouth full.

Being a snob about what everyone is eating.

Answering your phone at the table.

 

Oh man, I'm having davynn flashbacks.

I can't listen to someone slurping off a spoon. I can't eat breakfast with my sister for that very reason. For the last 19 years of holidays, I avoid breakfast with her.

 

I'll put up with a lot tableside but would prefer that people have the good sense to clean themselves up decently after stuffing their faces. I'm happy to point out when you've got food all over your face if necessary, but do yourself a favor and use your napkin once in a while.

When I was younger and prone to stuffy noses, I had a habit of chewing with my mouth open so I could breathe and my sister criticized me for it constantly. Now that we're older, I find her to be the worst offender of this—and getting food all over her face—of anyone I know.

 

Yes. Cell phones at the dinner table is just terrible. Unless someone is on their death bed and you might get an unfortunate call...leave it in your purse/pocket.

I do play with mine sometimes when out at a bar with friends. I always feel like a jerk when i do it. Definitely not at the dinner table though. I didn't grow up with a cell phone, but my mother surely would not have allowed me to have one at the dinner table. If the home phone rang during dinner, the answering machine was to answer the call. Not a family member.

 

I once had the pleasure of sitting next to someone at a semi-formal lunch who used his fingers to help push food onto his fork. He was a very socially awkward person who drifted into my social group , who we were trying to help act more "normal" and I quietly and politely told him he really shouldn't do that.

A friend and coworker chews loudly with his mouth open and hasn't gotten the hint when I've commented on it. I'll give hinting another few tries, but I may have to grab a pipe wrench to beat him with if he doesn't get it. It's really gross.

 

see, it depends on not only the context, but the culture.

in some arab and asian cultures its acceptable to:
a) eat with your hands ( yes even rice /meat dishes). It depends on what it is you are eating, but its a normal part of the culture as long as you've washed your hands. When i left Sydney and lived in Dubai i was invited to have Iftar dinner with a family on the UAE/Oman border. Although i had been raised to eat some things with my hands like wraps, sandwiches and the like, which is quote normal in Lebanese culture, it was my first attempt to eat biryani dish with my hands, and quite difficul too.

b) Burp in some instances which meant you enjoyed the food

c) sit on the floor with a mat out

I have no issues with any of those, and i have no issues eating with my hands when i go to a lebanese or arabic restaurant. Elbows on tables have always been a non-issue for me. im probbaly the worst culprit. When im fine dining, its obviously knife and fork.

When in Rome...

 

Someone blowing their nose at the table. Yes, needing to clear the mucus from ones sinuses happens, but it doesn't need to be done at the dining table.

At home around family & friends it might be semi-acceptable depending on the circumstances. My FIL has had serious sinus issues for several decades, and he never excuses himself from the table to blow his nose. To make matters worse, he also sometimes sweats profusely during meals, & uses the same hanky to wipe his face. Appetizing, eh?

In a restaurant, not acceptable unless there is no way to avoid it.

 

I remember having to ask to be excused from the table when I was finished. When dining with my elders I couldn't ask to do so until they were ready for dessert. We had dessert with every evening meal, BTW. Have given that up completely. No loud chewing/ slurping/ stuffing huge amounts into your gob is still the rule. Turn your face away from the table to then cover a cough and/ or sneeze. If you used your napkin, get a fresh one. Don't come to the table if really sick (you need pampering, I'll bring it to you). If you belch, say 'excuse me.' Put a shirt on at the table unless at a really casual gathering outdoors or at the cottage when it is super hot. I agree that the company you are in and the context impact table behaviour but the manners rules are pretty much in effect all the time. There's more, but I'm being called for dinner and it's rude to be late to the table.