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Was reminded a bit ago of some of the worst dining experiences of a lifetime. Eating with LDS Missionaries.
What many consider normal table manners were absent. Eating utensils used as shovels, knives as dish scrapers and (In Marie Callendars) the Elders leaning under the glass partition over the salad bar as they reached into the bowls with their hands sampling the food hand to mouth. One even dipped fingers into salad dressing bowls and licked them to check the taste.

I am reminded by friends of older tales of 'We will do anything possible to support the Missionaries, just don't ask us to eat with them".

Have not been around these kids for some time now. Has anything changed?

From my experience regularly on Airlines and flying with 'Utah Clampetts' I have my doubts.

I sent out 4 missionaries. They all knew how to eat in public. They knew how to use a knife and fork, and *cough* a napkin.

I've fed the missionaries here a few times over the years. They have always had beautiful table manners and were not at all crass.

Harmony, sounds as if you are one of the fortunate ones. My experience with these boys is less than stellar. An apt description would be 'major public embarassment' at their table manners. The experience in the Marie Callendars in SoCal was the topper. The management watched the antics and as soon as they were done under the glass he replaced the entire salad bar. I went back in after the boys left and paid for the whole thing.

A few days in the mission home telling clods how to hold a fork does not undo years of training to be a redneck. Some parents do a good job but overall the social skills of these kids is abominable.

JoetheClerk wrote:A few days in the mission home telling clods how to hold a fork does not undo years of training to be a redneck. Some parents do a good job but overall the social skills of these kids is abominable.

Ever visited a college cafeteria? I have. Perhaps your comment more accurately describes that particular age, rather than a particular segment of that age. Mom's not around to tell them to behave and eat well, so they tend to lose sight of the anticipated slap upside the head for pinging peas at their brother... or dipping their finger (instead of the tip of their knife) into the salad dressing.

I think you're talking about a very small minority. My boys never commented on bad table manners (and a couple of them definitely would have). They commented on the enormous amount of Cap'n Crunch the missionaries ate, though. And that the food was pretty good.

JoetheClerk wrote:Harmony, sounds as if you are one of the fortunate ones. My experience with these boys is less than stellar. An apt description would be 'major public embarassment' at their table manners. The experience in the Marie Callendars in SoCal was the topper. The management watched the antics and as soon as they were done under the glass he replaced the entire salad bar. I went back in after the boys left and paid for the whole thing.

A few days in the mission home telling clods how to hold a fork does not undo years of training to be a redneck. Some parents do a good job but overall the social skills of these kids is abominable.

I've never run into this. Usually the missionaries my family had over had much better table manners than the children in my family.

How many different sets of missionaries have you fed? Seems like you were one of the unfortunate ones, not the other way around.

Having both fed missionaries, been one, and eaten in college cafeterias I think it is more a function of age then anything else. Most who were taught how to eat correctly at home do fine. Some will ignore what they learned as teenagers are wont to do and others will have never learned.

I think I did okay as I did not know how to use my knife and fork European style so I fixated on it when I first ate.

Nehor

I think I did okay as I did not know how to use my knife and fork European style so I fixated on it when I first ate.

Is that where you hold the fork upside down in your left hand and use your knife in your right?

I never had any complaints about my companions, and I was moderately versed in the protocol of formal dining manners when I went on my mission. The funniest thing that happened was when my large Tongan companion accidentally took the large serving fork from the salad and used it for his dinner fork.

The only thing I noticed about when we took the elders out to eat was that, almost without exception, they would order EXACTLY THE SAME THING. The senior comp would order XYZ, then without fail the junior comp would do the same...not XZY but XYZ.

I also seem to recall that they ate quickly, like they hadn't been fed in days. But that is typical for guys that age, as well as car salesmen. Ever see a care salesman eat while at work? They shovel the food in as quickly as possible in order to get back out "on the point" and get selling.

Yes, that is another in a thousands different ways many missionaries are actually car salesmen selling salvation instead of cars.

fook

I am reminded of a companion from hell who was from Dinwiddie GA and who upon being offered a fresh warm chocolate chip cookies from a favorite member - devoured 11 or 12 of them..