For families, the dining table is the place where people gather the most and meet most frequently. All matters at home, big and small, are decided at the dining table; whatever is new in the outside world is also discussed at the dining table. The dining table is the meeting table of the family and the best place for the family "press conference". For a family with strict education, the dining table often becomes a platform for education, and this kind of table education occupies a pivotal position in family education.
In my experience, the dining table education that has had the deepest impact on me is "dining education". This is the first lesson of table education and the enlightenment of life cultivation. Dining education talks about a series of rules for eating, from entering the door and taking a seat, holding the bowl and chopsticks to serving rice, every bit is required to be in compliance with the rules. If you carefully examine these rules, you will find that although they are sometimes demanding, many of them contain principles for how to behave in the world.
Serve. When there are guests, you must first let the guests sit down, and then sit down yourself after the guests are seated; when sitting, you can only sit on half of the stool. When you stand up, remind the guests to prevent the guests from sitting sideways and falling; do not lie down with both hands At the table, be careful not to poke the guests with your right hand and elbow when holding chopsticks. Children cannot be served casually and must wait until the guests have finished eating before continuing to eat. When I was a child, I couldn't understand this at all. I always felt wronged and thought my parents were a little unkind. Only after I became an adult did I understand the truth: children have weak self-control. When they see something delicious, they will just hold out their chopsticks first, which will neglect the guests; if they have a runny nose and saliva, they will climb over the side like shrimps. When it comes to the dinner table, the guests will frown and lose their appetite. The guests will feel that the children have no tutor, and the host will naturally lose his face.
Serve rice. When guests come, the juniors should take the initiative to serve the guests rice. When serving the rice, the rice shovel should not touch the rice pot. That is a signal that there is no food, which is unlucky. The guests will not dare to eat after hearing this. Less, otherwise the guests will think you are stingy and unwilling to part with them; you cannot pretend to be the top of the rice, otherwise it will be difficult for the guests to put vegetables into the bowls; you cannot make the edges of the bowls full of rice grains; during the meal, always pay attention to the guests' bowls so that Take the initiative and enthusiastically serve meals to guests at any time.
Serve the bowl. Don't be lazy and prop your left hand on the table while the rice bowl is placed on the table. That is "eating the old man's rice" and must be served with your hands; adults can use their palms to hold the bottom of the bowl when holding a bowl, while children must use their thumbs and palms to grasp the bowl. Hold the edge of the bowl to prevent it from falling.
Pick up vegetables. When your chopsticks reach into the vegetable bowl, you can only pick the dishes on the side of your chest in the bowl, and cannot reach to the side of the bowl next to or on the opposite side; you cannot use the chopsticks to search for your favorite dishes in the vegetable bowl. If you stir it up and turn it around, you can only get what it is. Because even though you are eating vegetables from a bowl, it is both rude and unhygienic for you to do so. In addition, in rural families, as the host, you should enthusiastically serve delicious dishes to the guests. This is the way of hospitality. However, this rule is no longer found in urban families. The host just takes hygiene into consideration; in today's rural areas, this is slowly fading, and only serving chopsticks are used to greet guests under hospitality.
Eating phase. When guests are present, you should not just eat by yourself, but also warmly greet the guests to eat; you should not touch the rim of the bowl with your chopsticks and make a clanking sound; you should not make any noise when chewing, as the clicking sound is really unsightly; it is also inappropriate to make a sizzling sound when drinking soup. It’s elegant; no matter how hungry you are, don’t wolf it down, but chew it carefully and slowly. This is good for your stomach and won’t make your guests look ugly. After eating, you can't just wipe your mouth and leave, but you have to wait for the guests to put the bowls before you leave; sometimes you have to accompany the guests to finish the meal.
These shimmering rules reveal the courtesy of hospitality to guests, and also imply the attitude towards life of self-restraint and etiquette, putting others before yourself. I was once a guest at a friend's home. The friend's only son started yelling too early before the food was served. As soon as the food was brought to the table, I reached out to grab the vegetables in the bowl and ate them; while eating, my chopsticks were rummaging around in the bowl, looking for something delicious... I couldn't help but feel a little unhappy. Although he is a child and not sensible yet, he always gives the impression that he lacks education.
Every time at this time, I would think of my parents’ earnest warnings to me about dining when I was young, and I couldn’t help but sigh with emotion. I feel that there is no rule without rules, and some of the most basic things will never go out of style. Although they are detailed and trivial, if they can be remembered and followed, they will benefit people throughout their lives.
In addition to these dining etiquette, table education also includes education about food, education about frugality, education about courtesy, etc., which is all-encompassing. Thousands of families have thousands of types of education, but no matter what form of education, there is a basic theme, which is closely centered on how to treat others, how to behave, how to cultivate oneself and other principles of life.
Table education is the aggregation and epitome of all education in a family. Its educational enlightenment function and its subtle influence are difficult to learn in classrooms and books, and are also difficult to replace.