Re: Pre-industrial etiquette rules

[Guest guest]

I found the list in a Swedish book called " Känslornas Filosofi " ( " Philosophy

of Feelings " ) - a sort of idea-history of social/emotional development

(mainly in Northern Europe, I assume, although similarities can be observed

in other cultures too, though at differing time lines).

The author argues that it is only very lately that we've become more

individualised, and that our social customs and development of feelings have

mirrored this development.

During the Viking era here in Sweden, we lived in long-houses that contained

more than one family. Only a few hundred years ago it was still common for

the farming class to live tightly squeezed together in small villages and do

the farming collectively. After the land reform in the 1700s, one lived more

family-wise but still with farm-hands, parents and other relatives on the

same farm. After this, there has been a continuous trend towards smaller and

smaller family units, and to also have more of a choice in whom to marry and

what profession to choose. Today, many in the West live as singles, and are

able to do so without much problem by the way modern society is designed.

Paralell with this individualisation has been an increase in body awareness

and hygiene, as well as the development of the feeling of disgust. First

everyone ate from the same trough, much like pigs, and the author points out

that this authentic list of advice to peasants (from sometime at the very

beginning of the industrial revolution) would hardly have been needed unless

some actually DID behave exactly like that.

Then each person got their own plate. Later we also got cutlery to separate

us further from the food.

Around the 18th century or so, we became aware of/annoyed by body odor and

began using perfumes (Egyptians were a few millenia ahead of us Europeans in

that regard).

A couple of centuries later the custom to have a bath more often than the

once a year evolved - again, in Northern Europe. (Romans thought we were

filthy barbarians - and they were right.) :-)

In today's hyper-individualised world it is almost unthinkable to not shower

every day and use deodorant. And just THINKING about someone eating with

their hands grosses us out in the extreme - not to mention just reading the

ettiquette rules in question!

I'd say the reaction here pretty much proves his point. :-)

Inger

> My goodness, did they relly have to have *rules* to tell them

not to bring their GENITALS out at the table and not to eat snot?

YUCK!!

Toni

-

- In , " ravenmagic2003 "

<ravenmagic2003@...> wrote:

>

> OK, maybe I'm a prude of some sort, but I really could have done

> without those 'visuals.' Eeeeeeeeeeew! :-p

>

> Raven

>

>

> >

> > I agree, assuming one was born into the upper class and not as a

> peasant. Though that may have had other drawbacks... You remember

> the pre-industrial etiquette rules for peasants? :-) If not, here

> they are again:

> >

> > - Don't fart at the table!

> > - Don't fall asleep at the table!

> > - Don't spit on the table, but do it under the table or on the

> wall!

> > - Don't vomit at the table, but go to a quiet corner and do it!

> > - Don't bring your genitals out during dinner!

> > - Don't put food back that you've been chewing on!

> > - Don't polish your teeth with the table cloth!

> > - Don't blow your nose in the table cloth!

> > - If you've picked some snot from your nose don't eat it at the

> table!

> >

> > Inger

> >

> >

> > Re: Re: Handshakes

> >

> >

> > In a message dated 3/10/2006 7:40:34 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,

> inglori@ writes:

> > I know, , but thanks for the info all the same.

> >

> > I was actually not intending to wear my rubber gloves to the

> next family party, tempting though it may be. I just took comfort

in

> that image for a while. :-)

> >

> > But would it be impolite if one wore those lace gloves that

> mentioned too? Can a lady not get away with that if it's

part

> of the outfit?

> >

> > Inger

> > I think women would be excused for wearing gloves and not

removing

> them. I'm sure you did know about this bit of etiquette, but

others

> might not have. Its just one of the many little rules out there

and

> one of the ones that I follow.

> >

> > I'm just glad that I wasn't around in the 1600 through late

> 1800's. The upper and upper middle classes had hundreds if not

> thousands of social rules. Slipping up on any one of them would be

> enough to be sneered at as uncultured. It was stuff like eating

with

> the proper utensils in the proper manner (often very complicated

and

> needless wasteful of motion and time), carving the meat while

> sitting (standing up was a major faux pas), all kinds of things.

> >

> > My view is: eat with your mouth closed, don't slurp, no " gaseous

> eruptions " , don't talk with your mouth full, and keep you blasted

> hands away from my food (meaning not reaching over my stuff or

> stealing food). A few others, but mostly that's it.

> >

> >

> >

> > PS: I should add: wiped your mouth and face, a face covered in

> food is disgusting

> >

> >

> > FAM Secret Society is a community based on respect, friendship,

> support and acceptance. Everyone is valued.

> >

> > Don't forget, there are links to other FAM sites on the Links

page

> in the folder marked " Other FAM Sites. "

> >

> >

> >

> >

[Guest guest]

" And just THINKING about someone eating with their hands grosses us

out in the extreme - not to mention just reading the ettiquette rules

in question! "

When I buy fish and chips to eat outside I use my hands and I use my

hands to eat pizza and sometimes chicken - am I terribly uncouth or

what? :-)

>

> I found the list in a Swedish book called " Känslornas Filosofi "

( " Philosophy

> of Feelings " ) - a sort of idea-history of social/emotional

development

> (mainly in Northern Europe, I assume, although similarities can be

observed

> in other cultures too, though at differing time lines).

>

> The author argues that it is only very lately that we've become

more

> individualised, and that our social customs and development of

feelings have

> mirrored this development.

>

> During the Viking era here in Sweden, we lived in long-houses that

contained

> more than one family. Only a few hundred years ago it was still

common for

> the farming class to live tightly squeezed together in small

villages and do

> the farming collectively. After the land reform in the 1700s, one

lived more

> family-wise but still with farm-hands, parents and other relatives

on the

> same farm. After this, there has been a continuous trend towards

smaller and

> smaller family units, and to also have more of a choice in whom to

marry and

> what profession to choose. Today, many in the West live as singles,

and are

> able to do so without much problem by the way modern society is

designed.

>

> Paralell with this individualisation has been an increase in body

awareness

> and hygiene, as well as the development of the feeling of disgust.

First

> everyone ate from the same trough, much like pigs, and the author

points out

> that this authentic list of advice to peasants (from sometime at

the very

> beginning of the industrial revolution) would hardly have been

needed unless

> some actually DID behave exactly like that.

>

> Then each person got their own plate. Later we also got cutlery to

separate

> us further from the food.

>

> Around the 18th century or so, we became aware of/annoyed by body

odor and

> began using perfumes (Egyptians were a few millenia ahead of us

Europeans in

> that regard).

>

> A couple of centuries later the custom to have a bath more often

than the

> once a year evolved - again, in Northern Europe. (Romans thought we

were

> filthy barbarians - and they were right.) :-)

>

> In today's hyper-individualised world it is almost unthinkable to

not shower

> every day and use deodorant. And just THINKING about someone eating

with

> their hands grosses us out in the extreme - not to mention just

reading the

> ettiquette rules in question!

>

> I'd say the reaction here pretty much proves his point. :-)

>

> Inger

[Guest guest]

SOME things are still acceptable to eat with your hands - if you wash them

afterwards. :-)

Inger

Re: Pre-industrial etiquette rules

" And just THINKING about someone eating with their hands grosses us

out in the extreme - not to mention just reading the ettiquette rules

in question! "

When I buy fish and chips to eat outside I use my hands and I use my

hands to eat pizza and sometimes chicken - am I terribly uncouth or

what? :-)

>

> I found the list in a Swedish book called " Känslornas Filosofi "

( " Philosophy

> of Feelings " ) - a sort of idea-history of social/emotional

development

> (mainly in Northern Europe, I assume, although similarities can be

observed

> in other cultures too, though at differing time lines).

>

> The author argues that it is only very lately that we've become

more

> individualised, and that our social customs and development of

feelings have

> mirrored this development.

>

> During the Viking era here in Sweden, we lived in long-houses that

contained

> more than one family. Only a few hundred years ago it was still

common for

> the farming class to live tightly squeezed together in small

villages and do

> the farming collectively. After the land reform in the 1700s, one

lived more

> family-wise but still with farm-hands, parents and other relatives

on the

> same farm. After this, there has been a continuous trend towards

smaller and

> smaller family units, and to also have more of a choice in whom to

marry and

> what profession to choose. Today, many in the West live as singles,

and are

> able to do so without much problem by the way modern society is

designed.

>

> Paralell with this individualisation has been an increase in body

awareness

> and hygiene, as well as the development of the feeling of disgust.

First

> everyone ate from the same trough, much like pigs, and the author

points out

> that this authentic list of advice to peasants (from sometime at

the very

> beginning of the industrial revolution) would hardly have been

needed unless

> some actually DID behave exactly like that.

>

> Then each person got their own plate. Later we also got cutlery to

separate

> us further from the food.

>

> Around the 18th century or so, we became aware of/annoyed by body

odor and

> began using perfumes (Egyptians were a few millenia ahead of us

Europeans in

> that regard).

>

> A couple of centuries later the custom to have a bath more often

than the

> once a year evolved - again, in Northern Europe. (Romans thought we

were

> filthy barbarians - and they were right.) :-)

>

> In today's hyper-individualised world it is almost unthinkable to

not shower

> every day and use deodorant. And just THINKING about someone eating

with

> their hands grosses us out in the extreme - not to mention just

reading the

> ettiquette rules in question!

>

> I'd say the reaction here pretty much proves his point. :-)

>

> Inger

FAM Secret Society is a community based on respect, friendship, support and

acceptance. Everyone is valued.

Don't forget, there are links to other FAM sites on the Links page in the

folder marked " Other FAM Sites. "

[Guest guest]

> : "am I terribly uncouth or what? :-)"No, just a little uncouth, since you don't eat everything with your fingers.  Rainbow

[Guest guest]

Regarding that list of etiquette rules for peasants, and a society

which *needed* rules like " If you've picked some snot from your nose

don't eat it at the table! " - I have to wonder:

/1/ did a well-behaved peasant briefly leave the table to politely eat

his/her freshly picked snot?

and

/2/ how would peasants (of the generation immediately before the

creation of that list of rules) have regarded a person of modern

times, if the modern person could have traveled back to that earlier

time and the peasants had invited the stranger to dinner?

The peasants would probably have noticed the modern person's

strange (to them) finickiness, and they would certainly have noticed

his/her strange and (to them) inexplicable revulsion to their own

behaviors and even to their mere physical presence. They would NOT

have enjoyed the company of their guest, because the guest's own

behavior would inescapably show that s/he could not stand the

behavior, nearness, etc. of others. They would probably consider the

modern person very, very " abnormal, " and they would find him/her very

disquieting and unpleasant - probably even " unnatural. "

In short, a modern civilized person would have appeared to those

peasants very much as many people with Asperger's Syndrome appear to

ordinary people of today.

Yours for better letters,

Kate Gladstone

Handwriting Repair and the World Handwriting Contest

handwritingrepair@...

http://learn.to/handwrite, http://www.global2000.net/handwritingrepair

325 South Manning Boulevard

Albany, New York 12208-1731 USA

telephone 518/482-6763

AND REMEMBER ...

you can order books through my site!

(Amazon.com link -

I get a 5% - 15% commission on each book sold)

[Guest guest]

;-)

Raven

>

> > : " am I terribly uncouth or what? :-) "

>

> No, just a little uncouth, since you don't eat everything with your

> fingers.

>

> Rainbow

>

[Guest guest]

Kate:

> Regarding that list of etiquette rules for peasants, and a society

> which *needed* rules like " If you've picked some snot from your nose

> don't eat it at the table! " - I have to wonder:

>

> /1/ did a well-behaved peasant briefly leave the table to politely

> eat his/her freshly picked snot?

But of course! :-)

Reminds me of the delightful scene in the original Pippi Longstocking

TV series from the 60s when she is at a party and picks her nose. One

of the ladies sees her and says, " But Pippi, a real lady does not

pick her nose like that! "

Pippi looks surprised and asks " How does a real lady pick her nose,

then? "

But before she could reply, someone else demanded her attention and

she forgot all about Pippi.

Disappointed, Pippi sighs " Pity, now I'll never find out! "

> /2/ how would peasants (of the generation immediately before the

> creation of that list of rules) have regarded a person of modern

> times, if the modern person could have traveled back to that earlier

> time and the peasants had invited the stranger to dinner?

> The peasants would probably have noticed the modern person's

> strange (to them) finickiness, and they would certainly have noticed

> his/her strange and (to them) inexplicable revulsion to their own

> behaviors and even to their mere physical presence. They would NOT

> have enjoyed the company of their guest, because the guest's own

> behavior would inescapably show that s/he could not stand the

> behavior, nearness, etc. of others. They would probably consider the

> modern person very, very " abnormal, " and they would find him/her

> very disquieting and unpleasant - probably even " unnatural. "

> In short, a modern civilized person would have appeared to

> those peasants very much as many people with Asperger's Syndrome

> appear to ordinary people of today.

>

Probably, yes. :-)

Which begs the question... are we time-travellers from the future who

got stuck in this time by mistake?

I've sure felt like one most of my life!

Inger

[Guest guest]

I'm eating mushrooms with my fingers right now so, I guess that means I'm uncouth."Rainbow ." <rainbow@...> wrote: > : "am I terribly uncouth or what? :-)" No, just a little uncouth, since you don't eat everything with your fingers. Rainbow

Bring photos to life! New PhotoMail makes sharing a breeze.

[Guest guest]

They must have been poor if they were eating their own snot. I remember a mickey mouse cartoon like fantasia where they bring out the dinner in silver platters and the dinner ends up being a bean. Mickey mouse splits it amongst his fellow farmers into like 10 pieces. It was hilarious. There have been many instances of cities being walled for no trade and the parents would eat their children and babies. Kate Gladstone <handwritingrepair@...> wrote: Regarding that list of etiquette rules for peasants, and a societywhich *needed* rules like "If you've picked some snot from your nosedon't eat it at the table!" - I have to wonder:/1/ did a well-behaved peasant briefly leave the table to politely eathis/her freshly picked snot?and/2/ how would peasants (of the generation immediately before thecreation of that

list of rules) have regarded a person of moderntimes, if the modern person could have traveled back to that earliertime and the peasants had invited the stranger to dinner? The peasants would probably have noticed the modern person'sstrange (to them) finickiness, and they would certainly have noticedhis/her strange and (to them) inexplicable revulsion to their ownbehaviors and even to their mere physical presence. They would NOThave enjoyed the company of their guest, because the guest's ownbehavior would inescapably show that s/he could not stand thebehavior, nearness, etc. of others. They would probably consider themodern person very, very "abnormal," and they would find him/her verydisquieting and unpleasant - probably even "unnatural." In short, a modern civilized person would have appeared to thosepeasants very much as many people with Asperger's Syndrome appear

toordinary people of today. Yours for better letters, Kate Gladstone Handwriting Repair and the World Handwriting Contest handwritingrepair@... http://learn.to/handwrite, http://www.global2000.net/handwritingrepair 325 South Manning Boulevard Albany, New York 12208-1731 USA telephone 518/482-6763 AND REMEMBER ... you can order books through my site! (Amazon.com link - I get a 5% - 15% commission on each book sold)

Bring photos to life! New PhotoMail makes sharing a breeze.

[Guest guest]

> a name: "There have been many instances of cities being walled for no trade and the parents would eat their children and babies."And what sort of sauce might be served?And what wine might complement this repast? Red or white?mmmmmmm, with potatoes and carrots?and dark chocolate for desert?   Rainbow

[Guest guest]

Don't eat too many fingers at a time: it would slow down your typing!

> : " am I terribly uncouth or

what? :-) "

>

> No, just a little uncouth, since you don't eat everything with

your fingers.

>

> Rainbow

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

> FAM Secret Society is a community based on respect, friendship,

support and acceptance. Everyone is valued.

>

> Don't forget, there are links to other FAM sites on the Links page

in the folder marked " Other FAM Sites. "

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

> strictnon: "Don't eat too many fingers at a time: it would slow down your typing!"I'll take it slow, perhaps a foot at a time.Remember not to talk with a tongue in your mouth......  Rainbow

[Guest guest]

LOL!!!!

> : " am I terribly uncouth or

> what? :-) "

> >

> > No, just a little uncouth, since you don't eat everything with

> your fingers.

> >

> > Rainbow

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> > FAM Secret Society is a community based on respect, friendship,

> support and acceptance. Everyone is valued.

> >

> > Don't forget, there are links to other FAM sites on the Links page

> in the folder marked " Other FAM Sites. "

> >

> >

> >

> >

[Guest guest]

{BG}. No, I think I'll just eat the keyboard.strictnon_conformist <no_reply > wrote: Don't eat too many fingers at a time: it would slow down your typing! > : "am I terribly uncouth orwhat? :-)" > > No, just a little uncouth, since you don't eat everything withyour fingers.> > Rainbow> > > > > > > > > FAM Secret Society is a community based on respect, friendship,support and acceptance. Everyone is valued. > >

Don't forget, there are links to other FAM sites on the Links pagein the folder marked "Other FAM Sites." > > > >

[Guest guest]

No. Maybe a cactus because that's what grows in the 'desert'. "Rainbow ." <rainbow@...> wrote: > a name: "There have been many instances of cities being walled for no trade and the parents would eat their children and babies." And what sort of sauce might be served? And what wine might complement this repast? Red or white? mmmmmmm, with potatoes and carrots? and dark chocolate for desert? Rainbow

Use Photomail to share photos without annoying attachments.

[Guest guest]

Then you'd better watch your tongue! ;-)

In a cactus book in school, the caption under one of those big flat

ones said " Edible. Tastes best without thorns. " :-)

Inger

> a name: " There have been many

instances of cities being walled for no trade and the parents would

eat their children and babies. "

>

> And what sort of sauce might be served?

>

>

> And what wine might complement this repast? Red or white?

>

>

> mmmmmmm, with potatoes and carrots?

>

>

> and dark chocolate for desert?

>

> Rainbow

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

> FAM Secret Society is a community based on respect, friendship,

support and acceptance. Everyone is valued.

>

> Don't forget, there are links to other FAM sites on the Links page

in the folder marked " Other FAM Sites. "

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

There are some flat cacti sold in the health food store brought in from and, native to Mexico. I sort of wondered if maybe those weren't just particular to the south as I've come across a few in the Kansas Flinthills. Aloe Vera are fun to grow. The desert can be full of medicinal plants. Inger <inglori@...> wrote: Then you'd better watch your tongue! ;-)In a cactus book in school, the caption under one of those big flat ones said "Edible. Tastes best without thorns." :-) Inger > a name: "There have been many instances of cities being walled for no trade and the parents would

eat their children and babies." > > And what sort of sauce might be served?> > > And what wine might complement this repast? Red or white?> > > mmmmmmm, with potatoes and carrots?> > > and dark chocolate for desert?> > Rainbow> > > > > > > > > FAM Secret Society is a community based on respect, friendship, support and acceptance. Everyone is valued. > > Don't forget, there are links to other FAM sites on the Links page in the folder marked "Other FAM Sites." > > > >

[Guest guest]

> Inger: "In a cactus book in school, the caption under one of those big flat ones said "Edible. Tastes best without thorns." :-)"Yeah! I've got quite a row of thornless prickly pear that Luther Burbank developed right here in my neighborhood. Today little birds were fighting in the snow over the last of last fall's fruit . See: http://www.arhomeandgarden.org/plantoftheweek/articles/Thornless_Prickly_Pear.htm  Rainbow

[Guest guest]

I'd like an aloe vera. I think they're beautiful. I'd feel bad about

hurting it, though. Sort of like cutting the arm of an octopus! I

would keep it for company only.

Hmm... I might just get one!

Inger

> a name: " There have been many

> instances of cities being walled for no trade and the parents would

> eat their children and babies. "

> >

> > And what sort of sauce might be served?

> >

> >

> > And what wine might complement this repast? Red or white?

> >

> >

> > mmmmmmm, with potatoes and carrots?

> >

> >

> > and dark chocolate for desert?

> >

> > Rainbow

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> > FAM Secret Society is a community based on respect, friendship,

> support and acceptance. Everyone is valued.

> >

> > Don't forget, there are links to other FAM sites on the Links

page

> in the folder marked " Other FAM Sites. "

> >

> >

> >

> >

[Guest guest]

It WAS a pear cactus! (I remember this, even though it was 33 years

ago). Seems they come both with and without thorns then?

Inger

>

> > Inger: " In a cactus book in school, the caption under one of

those

> big flat ones said " Edible. Tastes best without thorns. " :-) "

>

> Yeah! I've got quite a row of thornless prickly pear that Luther

> Burbank developed right here in my neighborhood.

>

> Today little birds were fighting in the snow over the last of last

> fall's fruit .

>

> See: http://www.arhomeandgarden.org/plantoftheweek/articles/

> Thornless_Prickly_Pear.htm

>

> Rainbow

>

[Guest guest]

Kate:

> Here in the USA I've seen PIPPI LONGSTOCKING books, and a TV-movie

> or two, but I didn't know that a TV-series existed.

Yep. A real classic. http://hem.passagen.se/kaxi01/pip.html

> I wish I could > get DVDs (dubbed into English, of course) ...

Can't you pester some tv station to import it? They can obtain it

from SVT (Sveriges Television). http://svt.se/

>>> Which begs the question... are we time-travellers from the

>>> Future who got stuck in this time by mistake?

>>>

>>

>> I've sure felt like one most of my life!

>

> We might instead have come from the present time in a different (and

> less stupid) universe, e.g., from one of the " alternate universes "

> postulated in science fiction

That's an alterntive that's crossed my mind too. :-)

> By the way, the frequent use of " begs the question " as a synonym for

> " raises the question/inspires the question/leads to the question "

> deprives one of any easy way of expressing the very different

concept

> that the phrase " begs the question " originated to let people

express.

>

> The phrase " begging the question " originated as a short way of

saying:

> " begging other people to believe that the existence of an opinion

or a

> conclusion on a certain question or subject proves the correctness

of

> that opinion/conclusion " - or, more generally, " assuming something

> that actually needs proving, not just assuming. "

> For instance, if I believe that the events in the STAR WARS

> movies really happened, and if I try to " prove " this point by saying

> that " I know the events in STAR WARS really happened because the

STAR

> WARS movies say that the events really happened, " when I say this I

> have " begged the question. "

>

> Since English has many easy brief ways of saying " raises the

> question, " it doesn't need yet another way to say that. English

> doesn't have many (or any?) easy short ways to express the very

> different, more complex (but at least equally useful) concept behind

> " begs the question, " so (like at least some other English-speakers)

I

> oppose turning " begs " here into a synonym for " raises " or " leads to "

> or " inspires. "

>

Ack! I'm afraid this extensive explanation gave my still muffled

brain a bit of a melt-down. I have never had problems understanding

what the phrase means. I rather like it.

Inger

[Guest guest]

I have an aloe vera, and I use it (to get the gel from inside the

leaves - to put on wounds, sunburns, etc.)

If you want to minimize the number of times that you do harm to the

plant, instead of cutting the aloe vera every time you can just break

off the biggest leaf (the first time you need some aloe vera gel),

squeeze a bit of the gel onto your injury, and then put the leaf into

a plastic bag inside your your refrigerator for the next time you need

it.

Aloe vera keeps growing new leaves, anyway, all the time. The

biggest leaves have the most powerful gel (supermarkets in my city

sell three- and four-foot-long individual aloe vera leaves from big

farms in the southern states and Mexico), and the more often you cut

off a big leaf, the more often (slightly more often) you will get a

new little leaf growing in the middle of the plant. (From this, I

suspect that the plant co-evolved with leaf-eating animals).

Yours for better letters,

Kate Gladstone

Handwriting Repair and the World Handwriting Contest

handwritingrepair@...

http://learn.to/handwrite, http://www.global2000.net/handwritingrepair

325 South Manning Boulevard

Albany, New York 12208-1731 USA

telephone 518/482-6763

AND REMEMBER ...

you can order books through my site!

(Amazon.com link -

I get a 5% - 15% commission on each book sold)

[Guest guest]

I think food tastes better when eaten with the hands.

> >

> > I found the list in a Swedish book called " Känslornas Filosofi "

> ( " Philosophy

> > of Feelings " ) - a sort of idea-history of social/emotional

> development

> > (mainly in Northern Europe, I assume, although similarities can

be

> observed

> > in other cultures too, though at differing time lines).

> >

> > The author argues that it is only very lately that we've become

> more

> > individualised, and that our social customs and development of

> feelings have

> > mirrored this development.

> >

> > During the Viking era here in Sweden, we lived in long-houses

that

> contained

> > more than one family. Only a few hundred years ago it was still

> common for

> > the farming class to live tightly squeezed together in small

> villages and do

> > the farming collectively. After the land reform in the 1700s, one

> lived more

> > family-wise but still with farm-hands, parents and other

relatives

> on the

> > same farm. After this, there has been a continuous trend towards

> smaller and

> > smaller family units, and to also have more of a choice in whom

to

> marry and

> > what profession to choose. Today, many in the West live as

singles,

> and are

> > able to do so without much problem by the way modern society is

> designed.

> >

> > Paralell with this individualisation has been an increase in body

> awareness

> > and hygiene, as well as the development of the feeling of

disgust.

> First

> > everyone ate from the same trough, much like pigs, and the author

> points out

> > that this authentic list of advice to peasants (from sometime at

> the very

> > beginning of the industrial revolution) would hardly have been

> needed unless

> > some actually DID behave exactly like that.

> >

> > Then each person got their own plate. Later we also got cutlery

to

> separate

> > us further from the food.

> >

> > Around the 18th century or so, we became aware of/annoyed by body

> odor and

> > began using perfumes (Egyptians were a few millenia ahead of us

> Europeans in

> > that regard).

> >

> > A couple of centuries later the custom to have a bath more often

> than the

> > once a year evolved - again, in Northern Europe. (Romans thought

we

> were

> > filthy barbarians - and they were right.) :-)

> >

> > In today's hyper-individualised world it is almost unthinkable to

> not shower

> > every day and use deodorant. And just THINKING about someone

eating

> with

> > their hands grosses us out in the extreme - not to mention just

> reading the

> > ettiquette rules in question!

> >

> > I'd say the reaction here pretty much proves his point. :-)

> >

> > Inger

>

[Guest guest]

I wouldn't be without an aloe plant. It's inexpensive and easy to

grow, too.

> a name: " There have been many

> instances of cities being walled for no trade and the parents would

> eat their children and babies. "

> >

> > And what sort of sauce might be served?

> >

> >

> > And what wine might complement this repast? Red or white?

> >

> >

> > mmmmmmm, with potatoes and carrots?

> >

> >

> > and dark chocolate for desert?

> >

> > Rainbow

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> > FAM Secret Society is a community based on respect, friendship,

> support and acceptance. Everyone is valued.

> >

> > Don't forget, there are links to other FAM sites on the Links

page

> in the folder marked " Other FAM Sites. "

> >

> >

> >

> >

[Guest guest]

I've read that some plants do better if the new growth is eaten by

rabbits down to the ground--they grow back better than they would

grow if the rabbits hadn't eaten them.

>

> I have an aloe vera, and I use it (to get the gel from inside the

> leaves - to put on wounds, sunburns, etc.)

>

> If you want to minimize the number of times that you do harm to the

> plant, instead of cutting the aloe vera every time you can just

break

> off the biggest leaf (the first time you need some aloe vera gel),

> squeeze a bit of the gel onto your injury, and then put the leaf

into

> a plastic bag inside your your refrigerator for the next time you

need

> it.

> Aloe vera keeps growing new leaves, anyway, all the time. The

> biggest leaves have the most powerful gel (supermarkets in my city

> sell three- and four-foot-long individual aloe vera leaves from big

> farms in the southern states and Mexico), and the more often you cut

> off a big leaf, the more often (slightly more often) you will get a

> new little leaf growing in the middle of the plant. (From this, I

> suspect that the plant co-evolved with leaf-eating animals).

>

>

> Yours for better letters,

> Kate Gladstone

> Handwriting Repair and the World Handwriting Contest

> handwritingrepair@...

> http://learn.to/handwrite,

http://www.global2000.net/handwritingrepair

> 325 South Manning Boulevard

> Albany, New York 12208-1731 USA

> telephone 518/482-6763

> AND REMEMBER ...

> you can order books through my site!

> (Amazon.com link -

> I get a 5% - 15% commission on each book sold)

>