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around, don’t put a ton on your plate. You’ll look like a hog. And no double dipping! Finally, don’t become inebriated.
    Compliment the host. Tell the host what great food or what a great party it is at the midpoint of the night and then again when you are saying your good-byes.
    Don’t overstay your welcome. The appropriate time to leave is something you just have to feel in your bones. Things will be winding down, and conversation will hit a lag. At this point say, “Well, we’ve had a wonderful time tonight. I think we should get going. Thank you very much for having us.”
    Write a thank-you note. Within a few days of the party, always send a note of thanks to the host or hostess.
    Table Manners for Gentlemen
    While the rules of etiquette have largely disappeared from the public sphere, there is still an arena where your gentlemanly conduct will be put to the test: the dinner table. In the act of breaking bread, a man is revealed as a refined gentleman or an uncouth cad. Following these rules will mark you as someone anyone would be proud to have as a dinner guest.
1. Unless you are expecting a call that your wife’s water has broken, be sure your cell phone is turned off before sitting down to a meal.
2. If you are accompanying a lady to dinner, pull out her chair for her and allow her to be seated first.
    Figure 1.17 If you are accompanying a lady to dinner, pull out her chair for her and allow her to be seated first.

3. When you sit down, immediately place your napkin upon your lap.
4. If you see multiple eating utensils set before you, do not panic. The rule to remember is to work your way from the outside to the inside. Here’s the nitty-gritty from there:
    • Smallest fork: for eating seafood
    • Next smallest fork: for eating salad
    • Biggest fork: save for dinner
    • Small spoon: for coffee
    • Big spoon: for soup
5. Wait until you know whether grace will be said before diving into the food. No man wants to be caught with a mouth full of roll as everyone else bows their head.
6. Keep your elbows off the table.
7. Always say please when requesting a dish be handed to you.
8. Among good friends and family, it is okay to request a taste of another’s entree. But do not attempt to taste everyone’s food at the table.
9. When eating rolls or bread, put a pat of butter on your roll plate and pass the butter on. Then, do not butter the entire roll at once, but instead tear off a slice or piece, butter that segment, eat it and repeat.
10. Do not eat too fast. Chew slowly and savor your food. Make time for conversation in between bites. Match your pace with that of your dining companions.
11. Never chew with your mouth open. And naturally do not attempt to speak when it is full either. Finally, the “see-food diet” joke is only appropriate for five-year-olds.
12. If you have a mustache or beard, be sure to avoid getting food lodged in your hairy masterpiece. Mustaches should not literally be used as soup strainers.
13. If dining at a friend’s home and you find a hair in the food, quietly and inconspicuously remove it. Continue eating. If said situation happens at a restaurant, you may let the waiter know.
14. If you wish to consume the last item or portion of a dish, ask your fellow diners if anyone would like some before you polish it off.
15. Do not bring up unappetizing stories at the table. Your story about breaking open your head in a skateboarding accident may slay them at the frat house, but it will ruin the tomato soup at dinner.
    The Dos and Don’ts of Conversation
    We spend a great portion of our lives talking, whether in making small talk at parties, mingling around the watercooler at work, chatting with our date or discussing deeper issues with our friends. Through conversation we can win friends or alienate them, gain information and impart it, secure a job or lose one, improve our reputation or damage it. The difference between being a superior conversationalist and not is the