Etiquette Quirk (property, wife, home, family)

[agreatlife]

It bugs me when I see people with their fork upside down, and showing food on top of the bottom of the fork with their knife. I mean, it just seems dumb to me. My dad told me years ago to just get over it. So I did, but I do wonder about the intelligence of that.

[mrstewart]

If I understand you correctly, the person is holding the fork, probably with the left hand and prongs down and cutting with the right hand? The fork never changes hand back to the right?
This is actually referred to as "Continental Dining". The point is to avoid the constant shifting of utensils from hand to hand.
I only know this because a friend is a graduate of the School of Protocol in DC and when my children learned this at school I had to question it. Yes, there actually is a School of Protocol!
She also told me that when using a linen napkin, the fold is to be facing the ground when in your lap and the open end of the fold should be pointing towards your knees. So much to remember. It makes my head hurt!

[Tek_Freek]

I've considered lining my entire yard with low voltage wires. That way when someone decides it's okay for their dog to do it's business and leave, the dog will get a surprise. I bet it won't take long before no dog dumps in my yard.

Maybe someone will invent a sensor that can tell when an animal is doing it's duty in your yard. I would connect mine to a loudspeaker that loudly declares, "Your animal has just sh*t in my yard. Clean it up before you leave. You are being recorded on tape and if you leave it I will collect it and dump it on our front step."

Of course I'm an old meanie so don't pay any attention...

[mrstewart]

The dog sensor would be funny...maybe the owners should get a tiny jolt instead. Remember the old fashioned sprinklers that have a spike and have the rotating head?? Well, I saw something similar that is hooked up to a hose but has motion senors and sprays water whenever it is set off. Wouldn't that be a surprise? I thought it would be more fun to put fill the empty hose with RIT dye and then hook up the sensor so when teenagers sit under my magnolia to drink beer it would get their clothes! Then I could post something on the neighborhood site about their stained clothes.

[RedSoxFanGoingWest]

The fork thing doesn't bother me. I agree with the disappearnce of "please" and "thank-you" in society. My sister-in-law and husband are like this..don't get me started on Thanksgiving at our house this past year! Great points about the unruly kids in restaurants. I agree that if you are willing to take your children to restaurants you must be willing to leave when they can't be controlled!

As an owner of 3 dogs, the people that don't pick up after their dogs irks me like crazy!! We have a woman in our neighborhood that we've caught on occassion not picking up after her dog - keep in mind my neighborhood provides poop bags and trash cans throughout the development. I was in my garage with my dogs when she let her little dog poop in the front yard and keep walking. Well, I saw her and asked her to pick it up. She basically ignored me! I then said that my dogs were due for a walk and that I'd gladly follow her home with my 3 labs (105lbs, 80lbs & 60lbs) and return the favor. I gave her a bag and she picked it up. She walks on the other side of the street now!!

[mrstewart]

If we are talking about inlaws being rude, we may be able to have a contest. I hosted Thanksgiving this past year and my sister in law has raised 2 children that are strict chicken fingers/ french fries/ pizza conniseurs. Well, 3 days before Thanksgiving, my sister inlaw called to ask what we were having for dinner. When I told her she said " Hmm, we won't eat that, so I'll just bring a frozen pie and nacho dip (in a jar!) for an appetizer."

Needless to say, I proceeded to make meal that would cater to a more sophisticated palate.
I guess I should have prefaced this post with the fact that my children eat what is put on their plate or they are hungry.
Nothing says 'let's give thanks' like some nacho cheese dip in a jar!

[Mrs. H]

Interesting thread you started here. Hubby and I are always mentally listing how we want our future children to behave...also when my stepson comes to visit with us, we try to install in him it's not polite to call an adult by their first name....it's hard to battle that considering his mother, a big time hippie, is ok with her son calling adults by their first name...people.

Most of the pet peeves / bad etiquette are on my list...especially the lack of "please" and "thank you." Where the heck did those phrases go?

[mrstewart]

Mrs. H, being from south and relatives from the deep south, we taught our children to call adults ( with the exception of teachers, clergy, doctors, etc.) "Miss Brenda, Mr. Bill" so on and so forth. I don't know how that is accepted in other areas of the country, but it tends to be easier for the children and I personally think it is sweet. We always ask how the person wants to be addressed and if it is ok to be addressed this way. Just a thought.
BTW, the phrase "gimme" coming from a child is offensive to me. UGH!!! Like fingernails on a chalkboard!

[Mrs. H]

mr. stewart:

I was raised in California but by a still somewhat traditional Latin family. My grandparents and mother are always big on manners: greet people when you first walk into a house, say "pardon me" or excuse me"...say "please" and "thank you"...open the doors, stuff like that. I too find that sweet. Now, I am 34, and somewhat of an old soul mixed with a fun one, but I still believe in manners and think they have fallen by the wayside. It's terribly sad. I was raised with calling adults either "Mr." or "Mrs." I plan on teaching my children all that I learned too.

Luckily my husband was raised in the same fashion as well. When he and I were in the friend stage and we went out to lunch for the first time, he walked on the outside, near the street and would deliberately change sides when we crossed the street, etc. I asked him why he did this. He said his dear sweet granny taught him that men walked on the other side, to protect the woman. I thought that was sweet and not chauvinistic. It was traditional.

[ptsum]

mrstewart, I grew up with a Great Aunt who taught me the proper way of using the eating utensils, she taught me Continental Dining, and I'm very glad she did because there have been numerous times over the past 15 years that I have had to set down to black tie affairs in Washington, DC and had dinner with various foreign dignitaries, now let me tell you this old Southern Gentleman did manage to feel right at home with those foreign dignitaries and I think I surprised a lot of them as to how well my dining etiquette was and in some cases it was better then there's, so I thank my Great Aunt every time I sit down at a black-tie dinner.