On Aug 5, 11:33 am, Sky > wrote:
> Julia Altshuler wrote:
> > (snipperdoodles)
>
> > I'm curious about how we learn these things. I don't recall my parents
> > ever showing me how a knife and fork were used specifically. They'd
> > correct me at the table if I did anything overtly disgusting, but they
> > were lax about specifics. I do remember a time in elementary school
> > when I was eating with a friend. I was holding my fork in my left fist
> > and having trouble managing the meat. My friend's mother showed me how
> > to hold the fork correctly. Other than that, I think I learned
> > everything from observation. Now it's so ingrained that I'd have
> > trouble using another method.
>
> > --Lia
>
> I recall being told to switch hands with my knife and fork. Knife in
> left hand, fork in right, then cut the food. Then switch the fork to
> the right hand and eat. That always seemed inefficient to me, but as a
> kid when I tried to eat European style with the fork in my left hand (I
> had copied a recent European house guest), my grandmother made point to
> correct me. I always did what my grandmother told me to do as a kid,
> especially at her dinner table <g>.

We had British friends and my American mother was rather horrified at
the fork in the left hand approach.
John Kane, Kingston ON Canada