Table napkins are not for cleaning off lipstick, makeup, and sweat

Whether you are invited on a date with your long-time crush or just had a long day and you are extremely hungry to break records, some things remain as important as they have always been.

While some or many of these basic manners might seem the least important to learn or practice, they say a lot about our personalities and can change the way people around us see and look at us; 

Some big brands both in the hospitality industry and other sectors spare time to host sessions and train their employees on these important ethics while others assume that everyone knows everything. 

With the vast experience in the hotel and hospitality industry that I have acquired both as a client and as an employee, today I want to share the major basic table manners that you should try to consider practicing in your daily social and professional life that will most probably change your life and that of the people around you. 

With so many table manners to keep track of, treat these basic and important ones very important and crucial for both your social and corporate dining routines

• Wait for everyone to be served before you start eating; Where’s it might not really seem to matter depending on who is dining with you, it is quite rude and not polite to start eating while the same people on the table haven’t received their orders 
• Food should be served on your right; This doesn’t mean you can’t pass it to the person sitting on your left and most if not all professional waiters and waitresses will try to do though sometimes the sitting matter of the clients might make it difficult for them
• Chew with your mouth closed; As basic as this might seem, it is a big turnoff for many and could be a huge disappointment seeing your long-time crush eating with her/his mouth wide open. When food gets to your mouth, it gets mixed with saliva and it is no longer interesting for someone opposite you to see it. 
• Keep your smartphone off the table and set it to silent or vibrate. Wait to check calls and texts until you are finished with the meal and away from the table. This is not only important as a table manner but also in usual everyday life, try to avoid using mobile phones when you are with other people in a place that is ideally meant for sharing ideas or a one on one chat.
• Remember to use your napkin. The napkins are usually white and clean to allow you protect your good looking clothes from a possible small accident like drops of soup on your white dress, please and kindly remember that these napkins are not meant to clean off your red lipstick and make up, try to use a single use tissue to take off your lipstick
• Ask to be passed something far from you instead of stretching your hand over; This might cause unnecessary accidents or having clothes ditched into soup or someone’s glass 
•  Always try and match your eating pace with others; It will make you uncomfortable to finish your main course when everyone else is still having their starter, take time to pause and wait for everyone else to be on the same page with you.Pace yourself with fellow diners. Cut only one piece of food at a time
• Treat the waiter/waitress with respect; This will only make your waiter happy and comfortable serving you, but will also earn you trust and respect from the people you are dining with. Take a moment and cool off from the stress you’ve been through before placing your orders 
• Put the napkin on the chair, not the table; The table should be kept as neat as possible with less congestion and hence you should keep your napkin on your lap during dinner if possible.
• Ask to be excused; Some body actions are uncontrollable like sneezing, whereas it not a big deal to sneeze on a diner table, remember to correctly use your napkins to fully cover your mouth to stop sneeze drops from reaching other people and face the opposite direction if you can just excuse yourself and step aside. 

Finally, on a separate note, this is just a heads up to everyone going out for planning to dine with friends or colleagues, Decide ahead of time how you’re splitting the bill. If you would like separately, ask the waiter ahead of time if this is possible so they can keep track of what each person orders throughout the meal. However, if you’re with a large group, don’t assume the restaurant will be able to accommodate this. If everyone’s meal was around the same price range, it’s best to just split the bill evenly. Bring cash or make arrangements to pay the payer back.