16 Etiquette Rules We Don’t Realize We’re Breaking

You may consider yourself to be a polite person, but we bet you never thought that even the amount of food you leave on your plate says a lot about you. The way you pass the salt and even the way you wear your handbag have etiquette rules!

1. You don’t leave one bite on your plate.

2. You make eye contact when sipping your beverage.

3. You announce that you’re going to the restroom.

4. You don’t answer RSVP invitations within 24 hours.

5. You wear your handbag on your right side, not leaving your right arm free for shaking hands and socializing.

6. You snap at servers when dining out, instead of waving at them in a friendly manner.

7. You don’t use utensils in the correct order because you’re not following the “outside-in” rule.

1. Salad Fork
2. Fish Fork
3. Dinner Fork
4. Napkin
5. Butter Knife
6. Bread Plate
7. Dessert Spoon
8. Dessert Fork
9. Place Card
10. Salad Plate
11. Soup Bowl
12. Service Plate
13. Salad Knife
14. Meat Knife
15. Fish Knife
16. Soup Spoon
17. Tea Spoon
18. Seafood Fork
19. Water Goblet
20. Champagne Flute
21. Red Wine Glass
22. White Wine Glass
23. Sherry Glass

8. You pass the salt without the pepper.

9. You gag your coworkers and friends with perfume.

10. You discuss important things over the phone, via text, or by email instead of having a face-to-face conversation.

11. You point with your index finger.

12. You hold people hostage on one-sided phone conversations.

13. You block escalators and don’t let people off trains, elevators, and so on before you get on.

14. You swipe left or right when someone is showing you a picture on their phone.

15. You over-share on social media.

16. You greet people with the “dead fish” handshake instead of having a strong, confident grip.