Would you blow your nose at your table in a restaurant, or would you go into the bathroom?

Ah – if only the world were run according to Dutch, she would be so much happier!

I’ve certainly blown my nose at the table in restaurants, and before this question hadn’t considered it rude to do otherwise. But I also will leave for the bathroom in a hurry if my bod threatens anything disruptive, such as sneezing or coughing fits.

Sneezing really can’t be controlled, though. Nor coughing fits, although I too would move toward the bathroom if it threatened to go on a long time. But things like belching really loud, or blowing your nose can be controlled.
I just think the world is loosing it’s manners and consideration for others.

@janbb would you find it gross if someone was picking their nose at the table?

At the table.
The shithouse is reserved for shitting, pissing, and maybe vomiting.

@Dutchess_III Sure. But that is different from blowing your nose in a tissue or hankie. Not that I love it but we all have bodies.

I have certainly wiped or dabbed my nose at the table. I would blow my nose if it were just my husband and me at the table, so if you were able to see my table I guess that would bother you. If I was with a group of people I’d probably excuse myself to the ladies room to blow.

It wasn’t a dab or a wipe. It wasn’t even the the seeing. It was the loud, sloppy, phlegmy honking that reverberated through the room 4 times in a row. Guess what ever it was was well and truly stuck.

Why is it different @janbb?

Really, @Dutchess_III? You don’t know why it’s different? Yikes.

I’m never loud when I blow. People who blow their nose like that should excuse themselves from the table when in public, I agree.

@canidmajor, they’re both done for the same reasons and with the same result. The difference is one is loud and you can’t miss it, and the other is quiet. If no one was looking they wouldn’t even know you were picking your nose. But you can label one gross, but not the other?

You are entirely lacking in social graces if you think that. Really.

So I guess you pick your nose at the table?

Everyone has different sensitivities.
I’m happy when I can eat in a restaurant without vomiting.
Seriously.
My diabetes causes me to be sick to my stomach if I wait too long between meals.

The fact is, there is no difference @canidmajor. They’re the same thing, just different ways of doing it. If you can’t see that you must be seriously lacking in critical thinking skills.

No I don’t pick my nose. And I wouldn’t blow my nose at the table. And I wouldn’t fart or belch at the table. And I even chew with my mouth closed.

I guess people have different standards in Kansas. In my corner of the world, picking your nose is considered gross but blowing your nose in a hankie or tissue when needed is done without having to sequester oneself. Sure, it might be annoying if very loud but the world is not designed around my needs much to my chagrin.

“Why do you not fart nor burp? Was the food not to your liking?” – Martin Luther

@ragingloli He probably blew his nose at the table too – that revolutionary!

Hey Dutch, think of it this way. At least they blew their nose at their table and didn’t come over and blow it at yours! :-)

I blow my nose at the table.

If it was a fancy restaurant with a low level of noise, I’d be quiet about it… but that’s less about the nose-blowing, and more because I’d try to be mindful of my noise level overall. At a café, with its relaxed atmosphere? I wouldn’t think twice.

I do know that some people consider it rude to blow their noses in public. I was with someone who’d been sniffing a lot, so I offered them a tissue which they politely declined, and then we got into an interesting discussion about just how different “proper etiquette” can be depending on someone’s background. Ultimately, though, they didn’t mind if I blew my nose, and from then on I didn’t offer them a tissue, neither of us cared, and that was the end of it.

I do think if we’re out in public we should expect to encounter behavior that’s different from what we’d do, or what we’d consider “proper.” We don’t live in a society where everyone follows the same etiquette book. And isn’t that half the fun?

Well, I guess in a MacDonalds in Kansas, standards are a bit different.
Not the same, @Dutchess_III, unless, of course you also think the use, or not, of toilet tissue ia also the same.

I do blow my nose and cough if I really, really have to. Going to the restroom for that would be inconvenient for me. I do however always think of how others might be affected hearing the vrooming or crackling sound of mucus or phlegm so I do my best to modulate the volume.

I’d go to the restroom. I’d want to wash my hands afterwards, too.

I have ridiculous allergies. Those offended by me blowing my nose, should thank God they are fortunate enough to not have to. I have to blow my nose dozens of times a day. Except when I am in a desert. I guess I don’t have allergies to any desert stuff…

I would add, that a lot of people think it’s fine to breastfeed in public. That is far worse, to me…

Omg.

It IS fine to breastfeed in public. I don’t understand why men get all upset by it. Are they jealous?

I don’t care if people blow their own nose, as long as it isn’t my server or the cook. Hands need to be washed. If you want to blow your nose and then touch your own food and not mine, fine. But don’t you dare sneeze on me and my food or in my general direction. Cover your face when you sneeze. Wash your hands for you and your group.

I’d be ecstatic just to be able to blow my nose at all. And sure I would blow my nose in a restaurant. And I wouldn’t give a second thought about breastfeeding there as well.

If I can do it quietly then I will blow my nose at the table. I always have hand sanitizer in my bag. If it is going to need a forceful blow then I go to the rest room, because it is a little gross.