Comment on What common American habits do people find quietly annoying?

rwdf@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

• morphballganon@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

  Do toddlers where you are keep a hand free to multi-task, be available to lend a hand where needed, or use a napkin?

  Or is dedicating both hands to stuffing your face the more toddler-like method? Maybe think before you fling shit.

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  • starlinguk@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

    You can put the knife down when needed, Janice. It’s not rocket science.

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    • morphballganon@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

      We do. That’s exactly what the “toddler”-insulter is lambasting.

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  • Honytawk@feddit.nl ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

    They don’t have a hand free when they use fork and knife you numbskull.

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    • morphballganon@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

      Precisely, thus they are the more similar to toddlers. Make sense?

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• lmmarsano@lemmynsfw.com ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

  That’s the whole western hemisphere.

  I also loathed when they tried to teach me that custom, especially the whole utensils switching hands deal: it’s especially frustrating for a young child who will fumble and drop utensils to the floor trying pointlessly unnecessary maneuvers.

  I loathe the European convention just as much: bring pointy, sharp thing to mouth in less coordinated hand? Fuck no.

  I don’t follow either convention. Instead

  • utensil that approaches mouth (fork or spoon) in dominant hand: least chance of fumbling, dropping food, self-injury
  • knife in non-dominant hand: cutting doesn’t require fine coordination (practice makes it 2nd nature) & fumbled knife ends up on plate
  • utensils never switch hands: minimizes fumbling.

  Basically, the European convention with opposite hands.

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• exasperation@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

  If we’re talking table manners and conventions, at this point I’m on board with combining three principles, two from the West and one from the East, for making dining more convenient and more pleasant:

  1. (From Western restaurant norms): Every item on the plate or in the bowl should be intended to be eaten. The kitchen should remove bones and inedible seeds, and all garnishes should be edible.
  2. (From Western fine dining): Food should be properly seasoned when served. There’s no need for salt or pepper to be available at the table.
  3. (From Asian dining culture): Knives at the table are barbaric, and everything on a plate or bowl should already be cut into appropriate sizes for one handed eating.

  That would also take care of the American versus English etiquette (and whatever countries fall on either side of that convention) on how to use knives at the table.

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