Good table manners

My mother was a manners freak. At one point she took in foster kids, teens and pre-teens many who had major problems from abuse, drugs, violence and being bounced around from place to place. My mother was most concerned about their grammar and their manners. When they left her care, they still may have been emotionally scarred but they were definitely more polite.

Although a devoted Republican all her life, I wonder what she would make of Bush being shown at dinner. The open mike remarks wouldn’t interest, but the fact he chews his food with his mouth open and talks with his mouth full, would have made her furious. After all, when I was growing up, bad table manners was a punishable offense. She might even have switched to the Democrats.