How To Eat Like a Fancy Person

A few blog pieces ago, I was talking about a senior Valentine's Day banquet being put on here on campus:

Well, turns out I'm a senior and was 100% eligible to go and enjoy an extremely classy evening that Saturday with a lot of classy people.

If you're looking at the picture of my plate, you're probably thinking the same thing I did:
Wow. That's a LOT of...silverware!

And it was. And the worst part was, I didn't know etiquette rules about silverware, and so I actually let the waiters carry off EVERY single fork, knife, and spoon by the third course, before my blueberry-drizzled cheesecake showed up.

But I loved an evening of etiquette, and I think etiquette has become a lost art in our culture today. So here's a few "How-To's" I picked up that evening to pass along for YOUR turn at PCC's senior banquet:

• DON'T let the waiters carry off every single fork, knife, and spoon by the third course of the meal. (as you can tell, this was especially impressed upon me.)
• DO use your napkin. Mine was tucked under the bottom lip of my plate. I don't know, maybe everyone else knows that. It took me a while to find mine.
• DON'T drink someone else's sweet tea. Your cup is on the right hand side.
  
• DO listen when engaging in table talk. If you're constantly thinking of the next thing you can say, there's a problem. If it's dead silent at the table, comment on the food. It's something you all have in common at the moment.

• DO eat in small bites, if you can manage. Small bites. Thanks.
• DON'T stress about extending your pinkie while drinking tea. The tea-drinker's extended pinkie is no longer required in table etiquette. I looked it up.

Hope this gives you a start as you brush up on your etiquette and gets you excited for your own fancy-dining experience someday at PCC's senior banquet!

Anna Grace

Major: Performance Studies

Home town: “This world is not my home, I’m just a-passin’ through...” Also, my dad is in the Air Force.

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