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Students tackle matter of manners
By PAULETTE LASH RITCHIE © St. Petersburg Times, published March 8, 2001 HOMOSASSA -- During a recent visit to Homosassa Elementary School, I learned that the children no longer eat in what commonly is called a school cafeteria. It looks like one, but they prefer to call it the Dining Room. It is part of the school's manners program. Each week, since the school year began, a specific dining manner has been emphasized, including such things as chewing with one's mouth closed, using a napkin and sitting properly with feet on the floor, said principal's secretary Pam Balkcom. "I think it has helped the children be conscientious of manners," she said. Those manners were put to the test last week and part of this week, as the entire school took turns by classes to walk to Charlie Brown's Crab House. Using the funds awarded to Homosassa for being an "A" school, every child had the opportunity to dine in a real dining room. "We called down there (to Charlie's) and asked if they'd be willing to do it," Balkcom said, "and they were thrilled." To help organize the visits, the restaurant sent menu choices to the school ahead of time. The children had a choice of soup or salad; fish and chips, chicken pot pie, spaghetti and meatballs or chopped sirloin; sherbet, carrot cake or fresh fruit for dessert; and orange juice or iced tea to drink. I went with the fourth grade on the first day. The children were dressed for the event and looked very nice. A lot of girls were in dresses and one even had glitter in her hair. The short walk from the school to the restaurant took only a few minutes, and by noon we were seated in the restaurant by the river. I found a table with Leslie Fowler, 10, Viola Jaster, 9, and Brittney Crawford, 10. We were all greeted by the general manager and co-owner of the restaurant, Charlie Brown, and Carol Lee, who handles marketing and special needs. Lee addressed the children, asking all the boys to stand up. She told them that gentlemen seat the ladies and asked the girls to stand and the boys to seat them. Jeremy Thomas had the misfortune of sitting directly behind me and being in an area of the room where there was a majority of girls and very few gentlemen. After he had seated me and two or three other females that I pointed out to him, he simply would seat no more and went back to his table to seat himself. Once everyone was sitting properly, Lee instructed the diners to put their napkins in their laps and how to use the array of utensils set out in front of them. She told the students to leave the salad fork on the salad plate or the soup spoon in the soup bowl. The knife, once used, should be placed across the plate. She explained tipping and told the children, "It's always appropriate to say 'please' and 'thank you' to your waitress." When she finished, Brown welcomed us and told the children how many people were involved in running a restaurant -- cooks, preps, managers, bus people, dishwashers, waitresses -- they all work as a team. He told the children that if something is wrong with their meals they should tell the manager ... politely. He doesn't want customers to keep things to themselves and then never come back. Managers, he explained, want to make things right. (This gave me the courage to ask for unsweetened tea in place of the sweetened tea I had been served.) Finally, he said there were two restaurant rules: "Try to be quiet so others can enjoy their meals, and you never mess with the cook!" That said, my table companions and I settled down to enjoy our meal. Three of us had salad, but Viola had ordered the soup. I didn't know what kind of soup it was going to be, so I had played it safe and asked for salad. Viola said she likes most any kind of soup, EXCEPT PEA SOUP, so she was confident it would be fine. It was. (The soup was bean.) As we were served our fish and chips, spaghetti and pot pie (I had the pot pie ... and it was really good), the girls chatted about their lives. Leslie declared she is the toughest girl in her class and Brittney said she was the second toughest. Leslie informed me homework causes brain damage. They talked about the restaurants they like, and all were willing to add Charlie Brown's to their lists. While dessert was being served, I decided to visit the next table and find out how the boys were doing. William Huggins, 10, said his lunch was good and the outing was cool. Jeremiah Morris, 9, said his meal was "good, very good." He also mentioned the added plus of getting out of math and science. Jeremy Morris, the reluctant girl-seater, said: "I wonder if this place is going to be open tonight. I want to come here tonight." And Paul Otlew simply said his lunch was "delightful." As things were winding down and the children were about to leave, teacher Georgine McGeoch commented on the success of the outing. "I saw quite a few using proper manners, enjoying where they were. They seemed to have a good time, enjoyed the food," she said. The best compliment, though, came from waitress Helen Dowd. "I was especially very impressed with the ones who had no adult sitting with them," she said. "They were very well-behaved, very respectful."
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