http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstop ... viral.html


just sharing the sport. inlaw baiting my fave game

She sounds rather like a spoiled little princess, but it's all too easy to judge a stranger on precious little evidence; we truly know nothing of these people.

One of the comments wasn't so stupid:



In my house, it's taken that if there's food on the table it's there for you to eat. Please, help yourself. I expect you to pick up the chicken drumsticks with your fingers and gnaw them to the bone; that's why there are napkins (OK kitchen towels).

When you're done eating, if you lick your plate and belch loudly I'll take it as a sign that the food was good and you enjoyed it.

I would rather you didn't chuck rubbish on the floor, although even that small etiquette seems beyond some of my friends

Rules of the Bucket table:

1. All mobiles must be off and the house phone ignored.
2. Whoever cooked decides the rules
3. Adding condiments before tasting your food will result in your requiring a straw
4. No topics are off bounds
5. Argument is mandatory
6. Anything that can be eaten with fingers must be
7. Guests are not allowed to wash-up
8. All guests will be asked in private, before the meal, if they would consent to a short grace being said at the table.
9. Anybody moaning about grace not being said will be asked to leave
10. Anybody embarrassing a guest will be asked to leave
11. Anybody admitting to not voting will be asked to leave
12. Burping is expected; farting is allowed subject to apology
13. The host will provide stationery as necessary for drawing, mathematical working etc.

Oh and btw, it's "Manners make man" - the "make" of course applying to the manners not the man and therefore being third-person plural. "Courtesy maketh man" would be correct, for instance.

Can't read the comments from the piephone but the girl does sound like a spoilt brat. TBH most people are like this. I'm almost 30 and I still knock on people's doors and wait until permitted to enter. Whilst a guest in someone else's home, I try to ensure mininum of disruption to the host. If I've eaten but am still hungry, I won't demand seconds. Hell, I don't even take any extra helpings of food, even if it's pitiful.

Meanwhile, at home, it's a free-for-all. There are times wgen you should act with decorum and times when you fo as you bloody well please.

Said girl needs a slap and I'd make it compulsory for her to go to finishing school if she were to marry into a well-off family.

But you're not the groom. Maybe he likes her better the way she is and he's fed up of his pompous granny

If grace is important to you, then it's important and shouldn't be questioned. For someone that doesn't "do grace", a polite reply instead of "Amen" is "and thank you to our hosts for the wonderful spread". If you're feeding them, they can be quiet and listen for 30 seconds or so. You can't offend an atheist, and any friend of yours should have that much patience. There's a new testament story which still resounds in me, where it says you should be grateful for hospitality even if it's not kosher. Your hosts kindness is a more important grace.

We sometimes have a little ceremony before dinner at our gatherings if it's a specific festival, but the people attending such events always know to expect it. There's no "rules" but it's expected that you listen quietly and politely and don't interrupt. Any children would usually be in bed before this happened anyway. The gist is usually an explanation of why this time of the season is important and remembering the dead who's toil brought us such good fortune. It does people good to remember how lucky we are, and how hard our ancestors worked to give us our privileged lives.

I do think her comment about getting married in a church was spot on. Far too many girls want a wedding that rivals Jordan in tackiness. Though if you love someone you should not care where it is. If you pay for it yourself then fine anything goes. Though if you expect a relative to go seriously into debt for your wedding that is wrong.

I take offence at that.


Quite so. If I'm someone's house then you should respect their ways. You don't have to agree with or follow their beliefs but if you interfere with them then you should be out on your ear.

Now if religion is brought up in conversation, sure it's a free for all for discussion so long as in their house it is them that bring it up. As a non-religious guest it would be a serious no-no to bring it up, it could quite easily sound like an organised attack on the way they behave in their own house.

As for the email, well a lot of it is pompous. When we have guests I'd hate for them to get up the same time as me, I need a bit of quiet time while shaking the grumpy bear off my back.

The main thing about the email though, I pity poor sod who's caught in that crossfire.

Someone my other half used to work with wanted what can only be described as a Disney Fairy Tale Wedding. Horse drawn carriages, school choir in then church, the works.

Her intended ran off. The wedding was getting more and more elaborate every week, obsessed about, and I think it got too much.

Don't even talk to me until I've had a mug of tea.

Yes the Hello/celebrity mentality is ridiculous. The costs are getting stupid for many weddings and in these days of austerity people need to appreciate that.

Seasoning (salt/pepper) yes, condiments no (What if you like vinegar/ketchup on chips?)

What if you like salt & vinegar on chips?

I think that it does depend on what the food is. I like salt on my chips, plus you can see if there is any salt. On other food I like to try it first to see if it needs salt. Some add a lot of salt during cooking so adding salt afterwards could make it inedible.

That is fine, but I usually salt my chips anyway, but check first in case there is any on it already