Modern Manners

At the moment, my life includes rather a lot of giving hospitality to strangers. I have been through similar phases before but one thing has changed since those earlier times. At some point in the interim, some bright spark decided that, along with each invitation, a request for information about guests' dietary requirements should be included.

Whereas I was brought up to accept anything I was given, cutting it up and pushing it round the plate if necessary or rearranging it so that I appear to have eaten quite a lot of it  and am now too full to finish, the people of today seem to have no such qualms. To demand something special when someone has been kind enough to offer you dinner or afternoon tea or whatever would be extremely churlish, according to the principles I was raised on. Hah - here is a typical example of what happens now: