Table etiquette

[ghostrunner]

1. Napkin placement - why does it go in my lap? I'm not 3 years old. A few crumbs on my pants is not a big deal. But let's suppose I do put the napkin down there, and there's crumbs on it. Then I need to wipe my face. Where do the crumbs go? My lap. The napkin belongs on the freakin' table, right where I need it near my hands and face.

2. No elbows on the table. Why the hell not?

[cpebbles]

Why enforce roles on each of the forks? Sure those slender tines on the dinner fork may be made for holding onto meat, but maybe the salad fork wants it more.

[jim]

I've heard the elbow on the tables goes back to the old port cities. Shippers used to come off and get drunk and raise a ruckus. I guess on the ship with the rocking of the boat you needed to put your elbows on the table to make sure your plate didn't go anywhere, so that's how they ate when they came to shore. So elbows on the table was equated with generally bad behaviour and considered bad manners.

I have no idea how true that is, but that's what I heard once.

[Tambourine Man]

Here's the one that drives me nuts. Why do we switch the fork back to our right hand once we've cut a piece of meat from some dead animal part? They do not do that in Europe. I've heard that Americans started doing it "in protest of the king" but it's just dumb. How true that is, I don't really know. It feels a lot more natural to just go ahead and eat with your left hand.

[Hudler]

Chew with your darn mouth closed people,it's one of my biggest pet peeves. A guy I work with looks like a 10 year old trying to gross everyone out when he chews,makes me want to smack the taste out of his mouth.

[InvincibleCakeEater]

Here's the one that drives me nuts. Why do we switch the fork back to our right hand once we've cut a piece of meat from some dead animal part? They do not do that in Europe. I've heard that Americans started doing it "in protest of the king" but it's just dumb. How true that is, I don't really know. It feels a lot more natural to just go ahead and eat with your left hand.

I noticed that when I was about 17, and just decided not to switch hands anymore. Are some people really too uncoordinated to lift a fork to their mouth with their left hand?

[ghostrunner]

Here's the one that drives me nuts. Why do we switch the fork back to our right hand once we've cut a piece of meat from some dead animal part? They do not do that in Europe. I've heard that Americans started doing it "in protest of the king" but it's just dumb. How true that is, I don't really know. It feels a lot more natural to just go ahead and eat with your left hand.

I noticed that when I was about 17, and just decided not to switch hands anymore. Are some people really too uncoordinated to lift a fork to their mouth with their left hand?

I don't think I was ever told to do that. I just do. My right hand is more coordinated, so I use the knife with that one and when I'm finished I move the fork over. It feels natural.

[maddash]

I think putting a napkin on your lap is less about keeping your legs clean, and more about keeping a dirty napkin out of the other diner's sight. That, and the table you eat off of should have an element of cleanliness about it - whether it's real or fabricated - and putting a dirty napkin back onto a clean table breaks that image of cleanliness... and I'm sure putting your elbows on the table does the same thing.

Personally, I generally fold the napkin neatly so no stains are showing and place it next to my plate if I get up during dinner, otherwise I keep in on my legs out of sight. And I try to avoid putting both elbows on the table at the same time (you hunch your back and look lazy when you do that).

[ghostrunner]

I think putting a napkin on your lap is less about keeping your legs clean, and more about keeping a dirty napkin out of the other diner's sight. That, and the table you eat off of should have an element of cleanliness about it - whether it's real or fabricated - and putting a dirty napkin back onto a clean table breaks that image of cleanliness... and I'm sure putting your elbows on the table does the same thing.

Personally, I generally fold the napkin neatly so no stains are showing and place it next to my plate if I get up during dinner, otherwise I keep in on my legs out of sight. And I try to avoid putting both elbows on the table at the same time (you hunch your back and look lazy when you do that).

Just keep the napkin folded with the dirty part inside. I don't see the sense in pulling a napkin up from your lap to your face.

Elbows - I don't know. I've never thought anyone looked lazy doing it, and sometimes it's just more comfortable. Depends on the table.

[jim]

Here's the one that drives me nuts. Why do we switch the fork back to our right hand once we've cut a piece of meat from some dead animal part? They do not do that in Europe. I've heard that Americans started doing it "in protest of the king" but it's just dumb. How true that is, I don't really know. It feels a lot more natural to just go ahead and eat with your left hand.

I keep the fork in my left hand, but then again even if I'm not using a knife I will use a spoon/fork with my left hand. I do it for no other reason that it is more comfortable as you say.