E is for Etiquette

I met two classmates for  dinner after a very long class session.  Once we arrived at the  agreed upon venue,  we were  assigned a table and provided menus. When the entrees arrived we dug into our meals.

photo courtesy of the internet

A few minutes later one of my classmates was giggling and shaking her head.  My classmate and I looked quizzically at our fellow classmate for explanation about what was so  humorous.  The giggling classmate pointed to me and  said, "You are sooooo fancy! Why don't you just put your shrimp in your mouth?" To illustrate her point she picked up one of the shrimp on her plate and in a number of bites had consumed the shrimp and extricated the shrimp tail from its shell. I replied that I had been taught to use my knife and fork to eat my shrimp and most of the time that is what I did unless I was consuming peel 'n eat shrimp. The classmate continued to giggle and shake her head.

As I drove home I began to wonder if  dining etiquette was a lost art? A recent article by Colin Cowie  outlined the basics of dining etiquette. He also posed a question based on the image below, where do you  place your utensils to signal that the plate could be removed, is it A, B or C?

image courtesy of the internet

Surprisingly, a number of people responded, "who cares?" to the question . Who cares will depend on your circumstances. Early in my career I interviewed with a multi- national bank. The interview process included having lunch. The person I had lunch with and I had a wonderful chat during lunch, but he watched my every move. Fast forward to about a decade ago, I was invited to have lunch with an organization that I later was invited to join. It was not lost of me that during lunch several members watched me as I navigated my way through the meal. Even today when I am checking out venues for my blog I am keenly aware that the staff (and sometimes nearby diners) are watching to see if I know which silverware to use, which bread plate is mine and how to signal that I have completed my meal.
Exercising dining etiquette can open doors.  Exercising dining etiquette can also make a server's ability to deliver a seamless dining experience easier. I can only hope that  the kitchen gods will  have a kind server or gracious host/hostess nearby should I make the incorrect utensil selection.



photo courtesy of the internet

The answer to Colin Cowe's question is C.

Be well,

Technicolor girl
p.s Yes, I do have a copy of Miss Manners


image courtesy of InkPlus LLC