Who taught us table manners?

This question came up the other day, while V and I were enjoying a meal at Betty.  I must have had my elbows on the table, or something….

Assuming we weren’t finished off at a Swiss finishing school (or is that just where spoilt rich girls in 70s summer holiday TV series went?), the most significant influencers on how we act at the dining table must be our parents. Although I can’t remember specific incidents, I can remember the pride we felt as kids when M&D praised us for not letting them down when eating out in public!

The Grandparents too were great ones for “applying pressure” in this department.  To them, table manners (and manners in general) were of the utmost importance… you never knew who you might end up eating with.

So I really had expected by this time to have dined out with royalty, as they implied we would.  Shame.

Friends I used to know (Part 1)

When we moved to BC from CSP in 1975?, I lost contact with the first group of real friends I ever made. These were proper friends – not random 2 year olds I met at the nursery in Rickmansworth!

Subsequent searches on Friends Reunited have not been successful at all.  In fact, I’m starting to doubt my own memory… (dangerous when you consider the potential scope of this Blog/Idea).

OK, names… here you go:

1. Andy Ivy – my best friend up until then (and the reason for my choosing to support QPR)

2. David Johnstone – I remember being driven to his parents’ house for birthday party.

3. A girl – Annabel? Abigail? Alison?.  And I certainly have a memory of a birthday party at her house. Perhaps she was the first girl I fancied…?

I must ask my parents whether they remember any of them.