Here are the seven most impolite things you can do at a holiday dinner or any other dinner.
1. Not acknowledge the invitation. Still show up.
If you are coming, say so. Make a decision.
2. Bring a stranger.
If you want to bring your love interest, tell your host long before the dinner.
3. Come late.
Grandma spent $200 on that standing rib roast and you are an hour late for dinner. No.
4. Come empty-handed.
Ask what you can bring at the time you are invited. If the hostess needs nothing, bring a bottle of wine, if appropriate.
5. Complain.
If you don't like cranberries, don't take any and don't point out that you don't like them. It's also rude to show up and say you aren't hungry.
6. Watch TV.
Sorry your football game is on, but you have to interact with humans. Don't plant yourself on the couch.
7. Ignore the cleanup.
At least offer and if your offer is accepted, then help.
Rick Good spent ten years in the newspaper business, including with The News & Observer (Raleigh, NC) and The Greenville News (Greenville, SC). He co-wrote, with Melinda Coleman, Rutledge to Riley: Governors of South Carolina, 1776–Present (Published by The Greenville News), and is the author of Mind Games Trivia #1 (Amazon). He has recently spent 15 years creating original trivia content through Sounds Good Mobile Entertainment and continues that with his new company, SGME Software. He edits The Smart Reader’s money, real estate, and business coverage.
