Up close and personal etiquette

Normally Mondays see the MAtH (man about the house) and I discussing Dianne Isbell's Monday Etiquette column from the Belleville News-Democrat, but this week is different because on Friday evening we attended a dinner on the Concordia Seminary campus which featured a talk by a real life etiquette expert.  Also featured were two men from the Men's Warehouse clothing company who explained some of the rules for proper men's dress.

Maria Everding  (Panach that Pays) guided the group of students and their wives and girlfriends and quite a few single guys through a dinner in which each course was discussed.  The soup course was first.

Maria:  Always spoon your soup toward the back of the bowl.  This was a surprise to us and many others and it was quite difficult to do.  Much hilarity ensued.

Maria:  When attending a dinner and you are unsure as to which bread plate and water glass belongs to you and which belongs to your neighbor, make an OK sign with each hand.  The left hand will form a small letter b and the right a small letter d.  B stands for bread and bread plate which will be on the left.  Drinks will be on the right.  b-bread  d-drinks.  left and right.  heh.  Cool.

Maria:  When you are asked to pass the salt or pepper, you must pass both.  Shock!

Maria adding one other point:  Always have a tissue with you because what would happen if you had to shake hands while your nose was running.

MAtH advised:  What are sleeves for?

The two managers from the Men's Warehouse, "You'll Like the Way You Look" brought along a couple of clothing dummies which were outfitted in proper shirt, tie and suitcoat.  They also had many varities of slacks, belts, shoes and braces (suspenders)

This was very helpful and two or three things stood out.

• Always wear socks of the same color as your suit.

• Braces allow a man to take off his suit or sports coat and still appear dressed up.  Suspenders must be of the button type, however, not the clasps.

• When wearing a suit, always wear shoes which tie, never loafers.  Uh oh, the MAtH had on a suit with loafers.

Maria Everding leads the etiquette dinner.

Maria made house calls to each table to make sure forks and knifes were where they should be.

Helpful hints from the Men's Warehouse representatives.

Quite a few seminarians took advantage of this etiquette dinner.  Good for them.

Comments

[smartymarty]

What about fried chicken? Fingers or fork?

[diane]

Actually she mentioned that, "fingers, place bones on plate."

[Bob Waters]

Who's that handsome dude in the red polka-dot tie with the half-eaten roll in his hand? He's a dead ringer for me!

[diane]

The guy in the red tie is Wendell Stavig, second year student who initiated the dinner with a request last fall.

[Bob Waters]

Well, say hello to him from his doppelganger!