Friday, August 24, 2007

American savoir-vivre (or lack thereof)

This time I am going to complain about table manners. Did you know that Americans put a fork on the right side of the plate and a knife on the left one? The first time I saw it, I thought that it was a mistake from the side of the person that was distributing forks and knives on the table. To spare this poor guy - what I thought would be - an embarrassment, I walked after him and "corrected" the position of all knives and all forks. Now I see that it was a faux paux from my side...
Moreover, even in the restaurants waiters do not know the symbolism behind arranging the cutlery on the plate that indicates when you are done with your food.
And the worse of all is that most Americans when they touch glasses of other people while toasting DO NOT MAKE EYE CONTACT. How rude is that?

PS Cheers in 50 languages