Lately, when I was putting on my belt the other day, I noticed that the text on my belt was upside down. I was shocked. I never thought that I was wearing my belt wrong. In fact, I was convinced that I was wearing my belt correctly. So, I sought the approval of official sources.
Sadly, there is next to nothing written on the subject of how to wear a belt correctly. I searched my usual etiquette sources, but couldn't find anything to speak of. In desperation, I searched for military dress codes. The wonderful thing about the military is that everything is covered, down to the last detail.
In reviewing the latest release of the U.S. Army's Wear and Appearance of Army Uniforms and Insignia (Army Regulation 670-1), the Army's take on the belt is that the tipped end should be on the left for men, on the right for women.
Does that make it dogma? Not really. While the Army is quite strict about how its personnel should present themselves, that doesn't make them authoritative in the arena of etiquette and manners. However, it certainly makes me feel better about my belt.
By the way, belt and suspenders together are not okay. One or the other.
Which way does the belt go?
An actual pasta spoon
Just thought I'd showcase the pasta spoon, for which this blog is named. Can can see here that the pasta was served correctly, in a shallow bowl, but a pasta spoon (entirely unnecessary) was also supplied.
You use the basin of the spoon to twirl the noodles. There is much dispute over whether you can actually pick up the spoon and use it to usher the stray noodles with the fork. I just leave the spoon in the dish and never pick it up.
I'm sure someone will have some opinion on whether this is correct, but it is generally agreed that the pasta spoon is superfluous.
Dining pet peeves
(I don't know who these people are. I just liked the picture!)
So this week, I saw the capital offense: the licking of a knife!
Every now and then, I cheat a lot on dining etiquette. When no one's looking, I eat pastries with a knife only, cutting and stabbing pieces. Shame on me. I can't help myself sometimes. In company though, I'd never dream of it. But I saw someone lick their knife right in front of me. I was appalled. In med school, someone did this in front of me, and I stopped eating for a moment, my brain reeling from this act of incivility.
The inevitable question is why, WHY is it rude to lick your knife. I guess that the idea behind not licking your knife was that you could cut yourself on it (which is still a legitimate concern). But I imagine that when the fork came to be, its dominance of the dining table had to be complete, and this guiltiest of guilty pleasures had to be sacrificed.
The courtesy wave
Whatever happened to the courtesy wave? I was driving through a lot of construction this weekend, and I'm a pretty charitable driver. I'll let cars merge in front of me. But out of the nearly ten cars that I let merge, only one gave me a courtesy wave. And it was of course the big ass truck, not any of the sedans I let through.
For those of you that have no idea what I'm talking about, SHAME ON YOU! Whenever anyone lets you merge into a spot that he needs to slow down for, etc then once you're in, you should wave to the guy that let you in (usually with your right hand through the rear windshield).
Please practice the courtesy wave as often as humanly possible.
How to hold your fork
This cute little guy has an excuse. It's his first fork meal. And we are often quite forgiving of the table manners of children. However, if you're reading this, you have no excuse. A fork should never be held in a clenched fist.
I've seen a lot of people, especially when cutting with a knife, who stab their meat with the fork and a clenched fist while cutting. This is never appropriate.
The fork should always be held with the thumb and first few fingers, using the minimum amount of force needed. This is one of my dining pet peeves, but on the list of egregious dining habits, there's worse.