The American society is one that accepts people for being unique and different. It embraces independence and individuality, it allows all people to speak their minds, believe in a cause or even have pink hair! Yet behind this curtain there still exists a set of rules that people believe in, and expect to be followed by all in general. The degree of these laws is spread out across a broad spectrum. They can be something as little as the way someone dresses or eats, to something as big as, the beliefs or values they hold. A child of age 3 is expected make a mess around him while eating; cheerios on the floor and spaghetti sauce covering his face. "Aw the kid's so cute" is how some might react to this sight. Yet if a teenager or a 30 year old adult did the same, the reaction he would receive is not exactly going to be something that labels him as "cute".
So I decided to play around with this concept that people, in general, are expected to have basic table manners once they reach a certain age. I chose some very contrasting locations to do this and the results were exactly as I expected- not too good and very embarrassing!
Trying to decide two settings to test this out was quite difficult since I didn't want the onlookers' reactions to be exactly the same. So I decided to eat at the Downtown location of the Olive Garden first. This place attracts adults who would be considered middle to upper class and as a result of its location; most of the customers were in black suit and ties, in other words, business people. I went with a friend who knew what I was going to do and agreed to play...