American Table Manners For Dummies

By Lelia Hall


If one would grow up in an american family, he would probably remember his mom telling him to make sure he behaves himself when he is eating. Well actually, the reason she is teaching this is simply because having good manners during mealtime shows good upbringing. So for those who would want to get a recap of this childhood lesson on american table manners, here are a few things to note.

One would probably remember that while he is running toward the dinner table, his mom would stop him to check his hands. Of course it is only hygienic that one would wash hands before eating a meal. This is simply because no one wants to see dirty hands while eating.

Of course if one is going to eat a meal, then he has to make sure that he knows the placement of all the utensils. Just to give a brief idea, the fork can be found on the left of the plate and the spoon as well as the knife on the right. Of course if one is finished with his meal, then he should put all the utensils together.

Now another thing that a child would be taught at a young age would be to close his mouth when he is eating. Aside from the fact that it is unhygienic, it is also very disgusting to see. Of course if one would talk when he has food in his mouth, the food would actually fall out of his mouth which is even more disgusting.

Now when it comes to passing the dishes around, one should not just stretch his hand and reach for it. He has to make sure to someone would pass a dish to him if he is too far to get it. Now he also has to remember to always pass a dish to the right side until it gets to the person who wants it.

One thing that is not observed by most people would be not to gulp down the food. In other words, one should always just cut small pieces to eat and not just eat one whole big piece. This is simply because it is actually quite disgusting to see someone just take a big mouth of food into his mouth.

Now the last thing to take note of would be to always say excuse me before leaving the dining table. Now this is very important because if one would just walk out without saying a thing, it will show that he does not appreciate the food. So it is actually very important to excuse himself before he would leave the meal whether he is finished or not.

So as one can see, there are actually quite a bit of things to take note of when eating. Now do take note there are actually more things to note than these but these are the most common. If one has proper manners, then more and more people will want to get to know him because people can see that he has very good upbringing and he is very particular about how he would present himself in public.




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