2 ms·
"Another situation in which the ridiculous reason works is when a large dinner group is being served and only half of the people have their dishes. Everyone sit
by Hexstream 17y ago
"Another situation in which the ridiculous reason works is when a large dinner group is being served and only half of the people have their dishes. Everyone sits there staring at their food as it cools, trying to be polite."
Thank goodness we never really honored such pointless rules in my family. Unfortunately when we receive guests it's sometimes the case that we'll have to choose (or should I say guess) between doing as usual and risk appearing rude or doing the waiting just in case.
- likpok 17y agoA much more sensible rule (if you're at a long table) is that you start eating if everyone around you has food.
- smanek 17y agoThat's just as arbitrary (and even worse, inconsistent). Consider the following: xxxxxxxxxo 0123456789 Where 'x' represents a person who has been served, and 'o' represents someone who hasn't. Your rule suggests the person at position 8 can't start eating but the person at position 7 can, correct? I suppose the theory is that the person at position 8 shouldn't start eating out of deference to the person at position 9, but in that case the person at 8 effectively doesn't have food (they have it but can't eat, which is equivalent to not having food). So, if 8 should defer because of 9, shouldn't 7 defer because of 8?