What do you think of my new rule for food etiquette?

Asked by LostInParadise (32215

) December 11th, 2008

I know nobody pays much attention to etiquette and, to be honest, I am among them, so at the risk of appearing really sill see if this makes sense.

According to the current rules of etiquette, it is acceptable to hold onto your fork while chewing your food. I think that the proper thing to do would be to put down the fork.

This allows you to concentrate on carefully chewing your food without anticipating spearing the next food morsel. So it is both healthful and civilized. My original motivation for this rule was to keep from eating too quickly, which I have a tendency to do.

Once you are done chewing, you have basically two options. You can either pick up your fork (and possibly knife) and get the next thing to eat, or you can engage in coversation. Speaking while holding a fork seems highly uncivilized. Having that fork in your hand will tend to cut conversations short or encourage you to alternate between talking and chewing.

One effect of my rule would be to make dining more leisurely and lengthen the time required to complete a meal, which I think all to the good, since we always seem to be in such a rush.

I would also extend my rule to the eating of sandwiches. Between bites, put down the sandwich.

So does this make sense, or have I succeeded in making a complete fool of myself?

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7 Answers

I don’t agree with your new rule, it would become a nusance when eat to constantly be puting your fork/spoon/spork after taking a bite. I would say that it would be more likely that perople would be allowed to lower their fork and knife down to their plate and chew, ect.

Amish_Ninja (230

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If it works for you, fine. Don’t expect anyone else to adopt it, however.

cwilbur (14236

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I can’t see generalizing it into a rule of etiquette (which to me implies that one has a right to expect this behavior from others), but I do think it has value as a discipline that you impose on yourself for all the good reasons you mention. Yes, it’s more trouble and would likely draw out the mealtime, but I’m all for making the effort to bring more attention to our habitual routines.

Harp (19179

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The purpose of etiquette is to keep us from wanting to kill each other. It is not to force us to do what’s good for us, except in that secondary way (not having our fellows want to kill us).

Jeruba (56106

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I’m with Harp. While we’re discussing meal-time etiquette, can we please dispense with the ‘no elbows on the table’ rule? I understand the need for it if you’re sitting in close proximity to others, but when you’re not what the hell is the purpose of this?

augustlan (47745

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This would not work on my lunch-half-hour, unless I want to go back to work still hungry. However, it’s a healthy practice for occasions when time is not at a premium, whether or not people choose to engage in it.

laureth (27211

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