Is it rude to blow your nose in the napkin at a restaurant?
Should you bring along your own tissues?  Or is it okay to use
the cloth napkins?

29 responses total.

How extended an episode are we considering here?

A couple of quick dabs, repeated several times over the process of eating
food that was somewhat hot.  No snot-flying nose-honking involved.

I certainly wouldn't blow my nose in a cloth napkin, at a restaurant or
anywhere. I even have trouble with old men carrying handkerchiefs. It is
truly disgusting to me to think of putting snot back in my pocket.
I don't see anything wrong with using a paper napkin as a Kleenex(tm) at
the table, but I've heard that it is inappropriate. I guess it depends on
where you are and who you're with.

If anyone will be using it as a napkin thereafter, the practice is 
unsanitary; if the napkin is about to be discarded & the nose-blowing
is discreet, it merely seems inelegant.

Hm.  I'd assume that all used cloth napkins are laundered thoroughly
before being issued to someone else.

It's still gross.

I think dabbing the bottom of your nose as you dab at your lips is not
objectionable.  But Blowing your nose at a table. . .Ugh.  Also think of
the waitperson who has to clear the table.  Would any of us like to handle
a napkin someone else had blown their nose in??  

I had dinner in Sweet Lorraines last Saturday night and I thought of this
item and started to laugh.  Mentioned it to my husband who stopped midbite
and groaned.  The idea of eating and watching someone blow their nose into
a napkin got us both hysterical.  Thanks (I think) for the laugh popcorn.

I ate at Sweet Lorraines last week. I don't know why this place gets so
many raves. The food was mediocre and expensive.

Ack, what did you order?  I've been there four times now and each and
every meal was simply wonderful.

Exactly ditto, except I think I've been there around 6 times.
Rob got a meal he didn't like once; he said it was too sweet.
I once asked the waiter to propose marriage to the dessert chef
for me, but he said he thought she was already married.  :S

What if she had said yes, Valerie?  You can get in all kinds of trouble
proposing to people you haven't met.  I sent back a plate of ribs there because
they were too spicy hot for me to eat.  But they have a veggie French Riveria
sandwhich I just love.  Also eating outside in the spring in great.

re 11: Lorraine started her business as a patisserie.

I think blowing one's nose at the table is far preferable
to letting it drip drip drip all over if one is feeling
particularly drippy at the time.

But, the consensus seems to be that one should carry tissues
for this purpose.

Or wear long sleeved shirts :-).

I usually try to keep a pack of tissues in my purse, but if
I was in desperate straits (nose-wise) I wouldn't hesitate to
use a paper napkin.

If you must use a paper napkin, it would be polite to then put it in
your pocket to dispose of on your own ... and ask for a new one if
you haven't finished eating.

Out of courtesy for the waitperson.

It's been *years* since I was a bus boy at a fancy resturant.
Nevertheless, from what I can remember, worrying about nose drippings
was not a large part of the job.  Of somewhat greater concern was
getting chocolate, or butter, over one's fingers.  And even more nasty,
and rather common, was the possibility of encountering cigarette ash
somewhere stupid.

Personally, I'd suggest bringing tissues - it's just as likely you'll
need them sometimes before or after the meal as during.  Perhaps more
likely unless you plan *very* long and leisurely meals.

Dunno... food seems to make my nose run....

Ok, another question about manners.  What do you do when you go to
someone's  house for a meal [or even just for snacks or whatever] and
you don't like what they're  serving? Granted, in many cases, we can
take a bit or two of the item [and then eat  more of the other stuff
that you do like, then say you're full, if asked about the item  you
didn't finish]. But what about food that you just can't make yourself
even taste?   For example, I don't like seafood at all. Never have,
never will; I've tried it in many  various forms, cooked in a variety of
different ways, so its not like I haven't tried.   There may be a kind
or two that I can force down a bite or two; other kinds, no way  [some I
can't even stand the odor].  Like tuna, there's no way you can get me to
even  taste it [and the smell gags me].  There are a few other things
that I just can't/won't  eat, either.  Is there a tactful way of getting
around it? Maybe just say that you're  allergic? [in a way, its true;
some things will make me gag and/or throw up!]  Or  maybe discreetly ask
what they're serving ahead of time and then eat before you go so  that
you're not very hungry? Or offer to bring another dish and eat that
instead of what  you don't like?

[Speaking of which, my housemate's parents are in town and he just fixed
a tuna-steak  dinner for them. He invited me to dine with them, but
fortunately for me, I had just  finished eating when they got home from
their outing for the day... Though now the  whole house smells of fish! 
Thus, I'm keeping the doors to my 2 rooms shut tight to  keep as much
odor out as I possibley can...  Though I can't really complain; its his 
house and he's rarely even home and cooks dinner at home even less.]

It would not be stretching the truth much to say you are allergic to fish.
Many people are so allergic they have serious reactions to it.

Sounds like a good response to me!

Or, "I can't eat xxxx, I have a bad reaction to it."  

I'm always surprised at how well people do accept Colleen's suggestion.
Although in my family almost everyone has one food problem or another,
so we're used to that kind of thing. ;)

I think it's also rude to invite people over and not ask ahead of time 
if there is something they don't eat.  I always ask, due to allergies 
and what have you.

My mother always made a big deal about how, as a guest, it is important 
to eat whatever is offered. So that is something ingrained in me and it 
is my usual policy as a guest. However, there are some foods I have bad 
reactions to and I just say, "no thank you" when the food is offered 
with a "I have a bad reaction" as a followup if needed. That works 
well. 

I dont usually ask guests about their food preferences before inviting 
them over. I just dont think of it really. I do know about major food 
restrictions that people have and I accomodate them as well as I can. 

Since I became vegetarian, I offer to bring a vegetarian dish to share.
 That way I get an entree and nobody's offended or at a loss for what to
make.

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