Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Peeved at the Dinner Table


I’m amazed how often this happens. My sweetheart, Michael, and I will be at a favorite—or new—restaurant. Partway through our meal, someone at a near-by table will blow their nose. Michael stops eating instantly! Just the sound takes away his appetite. Now, if he were on the Blow Your Nose Diet, then the loss of calories might be a good thing. However, we paid for a nice meal and it's a shame to see it go half uneaten because of someone else’s bad manners.

According to the Table Manners column on Chow.com, Peter Post of the Emily Post Institute says a person should leave the dinner table to blow their nose when possible. Wasn’t this something we all learned growing up? Perhaps like many other rules of etiquette that have gone by the wayside, such as a man not wearing a hat inside, blowing the nose at the table has become acceptable. Since I’m not bothered by it, I never noticed until now just how common an event it has become.

What is your dining pet peeve? People using cell phones? Rude wait staff? Chefs not getting your order correct? Chewing with an open mouth? What bothers you the most?

6 comments:

  1. Chewing with an open mouth and parents who let their kids hang over the back of the booth so they are drooling in your hair.

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  2. I am slightly hard to please. The wait staff usually annoys me. Either they stand around waiting, and grab my glass to refill before I can even put it down, or I have to grab someone else's waiter to get a long awaited drink.

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  3. Drooling in your hair! That's terrible!

    My sweetie is also slightly hard to please when it comes to wait staff. When he gets a good one, he leaves a very generous tip!

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  4. Here are a couple of posts from my friends on Facebook:

    Tee--One peeve: parents who won't remove their screaming, unruly children. Who wants to hear that? Another peeve, though perhaps not bad manners, are restaurants that don't allow substitutions. Do you remember how picky I am?

    Brandelyn--what bothers me when we are at a dinner table is when someone has their cell phone not only on but at the loudest setting and when it rings they answer it and have a LONG and LOUD conversation on it...

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  5. My pet peeve is when the person you are dining with is ready to go and asks for the check while you are still enjoying the meal. -- Barbie

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  6. Barbie, as a person who likes to take her time and enjoy the meal, I am often one of the last people to finish eating. Unless we were late for an event, asking for the check before everyone is finished seems very rude!

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