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From: neal@denelcor.UUCP (Neal Weidenhofer)
Newsgroups: net.misc
Subject: Re: How to eat dinner in England
Message-ID: <239@denelcor.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 7-Dec-83 22:39:59 EST
Article-I.D.: denelcor.239
Posted: Wed Dec  7 22:39:59 1983
Date-Received: Sat, 10-Dec-83 01:25:00 EST
References: <722@ihuxi.UUCP>
Organization: Denelcor, Aurora, CO
Lines: 35

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>FMC asks "Why is it considered poor etiquette to cut all your meat before
>eating?". Good question. Why is it considered poor etiquette to put your
>elbows on the table, to tuck your napkin in your collar, eat peas with a
>knife, etc., etc.? These things should not offend anyone else, either.
>I guess it's because eating is such an important and social act that
>rules were made for it and not all of them make sense, but then a lot
>of etiquette rules seem meaningless. They just bring order to things,
>and set standards for the way things should be done so there's no question.
>Does anyone know how some of these rules got started? Did ol' Amy Vanderbilt
>or Emily Post make them all up?

	I'm probably a bit old fashioned, but these rules don't seem all
that arbitrary to me.  Eating IS an important and social act and most of
these rules reflect that in some way, for example:

	Cutting all your meat before eating reflects unseemly haste to
finish the meal (and by implication, the social interaction).

	Putting your elbows on the table is pretty defensive and
distancing body language.  Look around you sometime at lunch with 
reasonably polite (even if not necessarily formal) company--the rule AS
STATED is violated often but not in such a way that the person's arm is
obviously between him and the people he is with.

	Tucking your napkin in your collar is probably more juvenile than
actively offensive.

	Etc., etc.

			Regards,
				Neal Weidenhofer
				Denelcor, Inc.
				<hao|csu-cs|brl-bmd>!denelcor!neal