Etiquette

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I agree with what so many of you have said, but since we are all cooks here, how about grocery store manners?

It seems that the minute some people enter a grocery store, they check their manners at the door! They don't seem to be aware of the people around them, from leaving their carts in the middle of the isle, to talking on their cell phones!! Not to mention blocking the isles with their entire family in tow. Yes, I know there are people who must take their little kids with them, but for Pete sake, teach them the manners to stay out of the way of others. Then there's the check out lines. Fifteen items or less, doesn't mean 15 items to many people. Why can't people place a spacer at the end of their items for the next shopper? The free samples at Costco also get my goat. You'd think those people hadn't eaten in days! I enjoy the free food samples too, but I'm one of the few who thank the demonstrator, and move on leaving room for others. Geeze, why do people stand right there to eat their free food??

:ROFLMAO:I'm headed out to Costco...wanna go with? :ROFLMAO: I'm not averse to giving unattended children espresso and a free kitten.
 
Aggh, grocery shoppers!
It would appear that some people can't drive a grocery cart with a cell phone pressed to their ear any better than they can a vehicle.

And I ran into (not literally) one of those little kids just the other day. And was totally surprised his mother caught what he did!
The little not shinola waited until I was right upon them and then sauntered in front of my cart and stood their staring blankly at the items on the other side of the aisle. Only my years of experience in evasive shopping cart technique prevented me from having to announce a cleanup in aisle 6. I didn't really think his mother was paying attention, but when our paths crossed again in the next aisle, someone had a solemn face and was sitting in the cart... Yes! Vindicated! :mrgreen:
 
The time and place for good manners or etiquette is not a manner of situational ethics, a malignancy that pervades today's thinking! It's a behavioral choice... and those who believe that good manners can be applied haphazardly usually don't have more than limited manners anyway.
 
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The time and place for good manners or etiquette is not a manner of situational ethics, a malignancy that pervades today's thinking! It's a behavioral choice... and those who believe that good manners can be applied haphazardly usually don't have more than limited manners anyway.


I agree. Everybody deserves the same good manners, starting with the people closest to you.
 
The grocery store, humm. Children running in the aisle, that is the aisle three ailses down from where you are, grrrrrrr. However, the expression on their face after bouncing off me and landing on their butts is priceless. No I didn't intentionally let them run into me either.

People that just shove the cart out at the end of an aisle without looking. People who leave the cart in the middle of the aisle. Always pass port to port! You don't need the whole family to shop! Especially when they just mill about your cart and block others from getting by. That package of chicken that you decided you didn't want doesn't belong in the cereal aisle, nor should it be put back in the meat department when found.

Eating out. Just because you think that your child "visiting" my table is cute, doesn't mean that I do. Take that screaming child outside!

I don't have anymore time right now!

Craig
 
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Hold your utensils like flags and turn them upside down to cut your food. Do not use a fist to hold your cutlery.

USE A NAPKIN.

No texting at the table. No iPods at the table. Dinner is for conversation.

When not at the dinner table, I'm rather fond of having doors opened for me by my husband. He does it for me with every door, car and otherwise. I like having heavy packages carried by him too. I'm totally OK with doing it myself, but its still nice.


I am not sure what you mean by "hold your utensils like flags".
Speaking of cutlery, I have seen people eat with the fork upside down, it looks wrong to me, what do the etiquette police say?
 
Speaking of cutlery, I have seen people eat with the fork upside down, it looks wrong to me, what do the etiquette police say?

It's normal to hold it in that fashion to hold a steak while cutting but taking it to your mouth with the fork in that position just looks odd. Maybe not. I know a few people who do that.
 
The little not shinola waited until I was right upon them and then sauntered in front of my cart and stood their staring blankly at the items on the other side of the aisle. Only my years of experience in evasive shopping cart technique prevented me from having to announce a cleanup in aisle 6.
:LOL:@ Pac.
 
It's normal to hold it in that fashion to hold a steak while cutting but taking it to your mouth with the fork in that position just looks odd. Maybe not. I know a few people who do that.


You said exactly what I was trying to say. Thank you. To me it just looks wrong. And by no means am I the etiquette police!:chef:
 
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Holding the fork in your left hand for cutting then switching it to the right hand to get it to your mouth is an American (and maybe Canadian) habit. From what I know, Europeans use the left hand only for the fork.
 
Holding the fork in your left hand for cutting then switching it to the right hand to get it to your mouth is an American (and maybe Canadian) habit. From what I know, Europeans use the left hand only for the fork.


But do they eat from the fork upside down? That is the issue I am referring to.
 
Yes, I'm pretty sure they do (fold the fork upside down, or convex curve up).
It's something I have switched to when eating meat and cutting it one bite at a time, but I still switch hands to get those peas and mashed taters, lol. I am just not coordinated enough with my left hand to replace years of eating with my right.
 
But do they eat from the fork upside down? That is the issue I am referring to.


When you're cutting, the fork is holding the meat and is upside down. Then you just move the fork up to your mouth - still upside down.

This looks "wrong" to most Americans because we switch hands and turn the fork "right side up".
 
It's normal to hold it in that fashion to hold a steak while cutting but taking it to your mouth with the fork in that position just looks odd. Maybe not. I know a few people who do that.

It's the normal way to use a fork in GB. On my first trip to Europe, my husband and I were in a casual restaurant eating a hamburger (normal American "animal style") near Windsor Castle. I was enthralled watching two ladies at the next table eating their entire burgers with a knife and fork. The fork was upside down, and the knife was used to pack the food on the back of the fork. The fork never left the left hand, and the knife never left the right hand. There are certainly different "manners" in other parts of the world. I wonder if they thought we were Barbarians for eating our burgers American style, with catchup dripping down our chins? :rolleyes:
 
My parents were European, so that's how I was taught to use a knife and fork. With the "casual style", it's okay to use the fork with your right hand, but no continual switching back and forth and no cutting more than one piece of meat (or anything else, for that matter) at a time. Salad is usually eaten with the dominant hand.

For nice restaurants, etc., leave the fork in your left hand. The fork goes to the mouth convex side up, even for the peas you shoved onto your fork with your knife.

Yes, I think Europeans think the North American way people use cutlery is a bit barbaric, though I think that view is changing.

I remember my mum telling me that the American way to use cutlery may be gauche, but it was perfectly good manners in America. :LOL:
 
You don't need the whole family to shop!
Craig

Some people may not be able to afford a sitter to go to the grocery store or want to leave their children home alone. And, if the whole family (mom, dad, kids, grandma) is there, well, that's fine with me - they are doing "something" together!
 
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