Etiquette Tuesday: Grooming
Image via Nose Hair Trimmers
There are two reasons restaurants have bathrooms: to relieve yourself and to groom yourself. Based on these two reasons and the fact that 90% of restaurants have a bathroom, no one should be grooming themselves at the dinner table. I have thought about this etiquette tip for quite some time…do people really have this problem? Is it relevant?? Well, just the other day my question was answered when a loyal reader of JKGF told me they saw someone brushing their hair in a restaurant. No bueno (*Translation: No good).
This should again be a no-brainer but Etiquette Tuesday is to the rescue for those grey areas. There are the obvious “no-no’s” when it comes to grooming at the table: picking in your teeth and/or your nose. Then there are the others: No brushing/combing your hair, No cleaning/clipping/filing your fingernails, No digging in your ears or in your eyes for eye boogers and No “freshening up” i.e. spraying perfumes at the dinner table. Some of you are looking at this list and saying “who does these things?!”. Sadly many of our peers do these things without thinking especially the digging in the eyes for who-knows-what.
Grooming that is allowed is refreshing your lipstick/lip gloss/chapstick or putting lotion on your hands…and honestly, even these allowances should be reserved for the end of the meal when the check is being returned. The million-dollar question is what do you do when you feel like something is in your teeth?! Go to the bathroom! That’s what its there for, use it accordingly.
Category: Food.Fun.Stuff.
About the Author (Author Profile)
Johnna French is a Harlem NY native with deep roots in Panama, Washington, DC and North Carolina. All four places have heavily influenced her life and the foods she loves today. After graduating Howard University School of Law and beginning her life as a young professional in the city she was led to start Johnna Knows Good Food in November 2007 to keep family, friends and colleagues updated on where to go and what to eat while dining in the nation’s capitol. French, who still practices law, leads a team of three writers to cover the ever expanding Washington, DC food scene. French has been featured in print and television, appearing in Washingtonian Magazine and is a regular contributor to various local TV affiliates including WUSA 9, FOX 5 DC and WJLA (ABC Affiliate) News Channel 8. During the 2016-2017 football season, Johnna aired on Comcast Sports Mid-Atlantic (CSN) show, Redskins Life, as the weekly tailgate host. Johnna is currently a regular contributor to the FOX Baltimore Weekend morning show.Subscribe
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Sites That Link to this Post
- Etiquette Tuesday: Grooming, Part Deux — johnnaknowsgoodfood.com | September 20, 2011
SOB! Of course, I have several examples of all. Let’s not forget *ahem* adjusting one’s self at/near the table. (Yeah, I know.)
People should also excuse themselves when taking a call that lasts longer than 8 milliseconds…or is that another story for another Etiquette Tuesday?
I always have to catch myself reapplying gloss or hand lotion at the table. *slaps hand*
Perfumes at the dinner table? Maybe it’s for… What if food smelled? LOL
LoL, I do the same because I’m absolutely addicted to chapstick…*slaps both hands*…
LoL, true! I have my share of those types of places…