How important are table manners to you?

Yes, a deal breaker. I don't care to remember the number of dates I've been on where the man opposite me has spat food on me throughout the meal. Or where he pours his own water but not mine, or starts eating really quickly as though he's a starved hobo.

It's a dealbreaker for me. I don't want to have to teach a man things his parents should have taught him, and I don't want to be constantly embarrassed by him.

They’re an absolute dealbreaker. When I brought it up with one guy (pre-FDS), he said “I didn’t realize I had to be so formal with you. I thought I could be comfortable with you since we’re dating.” ICK!

That being said, I’ve never dated a man who had acceptable table manners. One wouldn’t ever wipe his mouth. One wouldn’t use a knife properly (above). Another would eat crazy fast. ALL OF THEM BURPED & FARTED OPENLY. None of them ever put the napkin in their lap. How can an adult man do this?? How is he not embarrassed?? I truly don’t understand.

Question for you ladies-do you feel manners are in decline among men under 40? I find that older men generally have better manners & I wonder why younger men aren't learning manners in the same way.

The worst I experienced was a guy eating a meat dish that was drowning in sauce …. with his hands! It was a very nice restaurant and they gave us utensils ! 🤦‍♀️

It's funny how little we see men being advised to talk to her about it, and teach her how to behave like a functional and polite adult.

It takes very little to put me off ever wanting to kiss a man, so yes definitely.

I would differ between universal table manners and politeness and small cultural differences that can already differ between neighboring countries. The former is something I absolutely expect and a dealbreaker, the latter I can tolerate to a certain degree.

One thing that stunned me when I first visited the US was that many US Americans hold and use their knife and fork differently than I did growing up in central Europe. I grew up holding the knife in the right hand and the fork in the left hand and that's where they stayed for the whole meal and you cut off every bite of whatever you eat one at a time. In the US, I have seen people cut their whole meal up at once, putting the knife away and then only eating with the fork (which is something that would only be acceptable if a parent pre-cuts the meal for a child here and that no adult would ever do) or cut a bite of something off with the knife in the right hand, then put the knife away, take the fork into the right hand to eat that piece and repeat all that for every single bite. That's more of a funny cultural difference than rudeness to me.

I haven't been on a date before, but I'm very certain it would be, yes. It would make me lose my appetite right at the table.

It depends on how bad it is. I don’t really watch people much when they’re eating so smaller things I probably wouldn’t notice. If they’re talking to me while they’re chewing or something obvious like that, then yeah.

Terrible table manners are absolutely a deal breaker for me. I don’t expect my man to be like me so extremely elegant on the table and eating smaller bites etc because that’s how I am. However, he needs to know basic etiquette and most of all treat me well when dining out.

Meaning, respectfully ordering for us after asking me what I would like to eat (I like when he leads), pouring water for me when it’s done without me asking. Pulls the chair out for me whenever I’m going to sit down or have to get up. Paying for the date, etc. I will never expect less than this and what I like the most, is if he asks me if I like to try his food because it tastes great and puts some on my plate without me asking.