Do you see what I see?

OK, Time for the Christmas carols to seize and desist!  Starting out the new year with one of my top 5 pet peeves:  TABLE MANNERS.  I do not want to see what your chewing or hear that you're even eating... Especially if I'm sitting at the table with you!!!  Unfortunately, etiquette seems to be generational.  We were taught!  We tried to teach our children and I can only pray that they will teach theirs!  Some things are NOT traditions, they're just plain supposed to be.  We never horsed around at the table.  We sat up straight (or Dad would walk behind us, put his hands on our shoulders and say, "Shoulders back, knockers up").  That was as much comedy as our table could handle. We never ate until Mom joined us at the table. We kept our elbows off the table, chewed w/ our mouths closed and didn't speak if they were full. We tried a bit of everything and ate what we took....even if it meant sitting at the table until way after bedtime trying to swallow cold codfish gravy on rice.. Both of which, to this day, I haven't and will never, eat again! Meals weren't all bad.  We all ate together, the food was generally hot and good.  There was no juice or soda at mealtime. You drank milk which btw, was delivered daily on our back porch in the milk box. 
This isn't rocket science, folks.  It's not odd behavior that is out of date.  We're not asking kids to curtsy or bow, wear girdles or crinolines or be married off to the "not so" handsome son of a dear friend.  We're asking you to teach your children, who in turn will teach theirs to chew w/ their damn mouths closed, appreciate that even eating has boundaries and rules, pass things on the table rather than reaching, be thankful you're all together and have food on your table and maybe, just maybe, compliment the cook and ask to be excused.  Even my 4 year old granddaughter does that......with possibly a bit of occasional prompting.  Nobody's perfect but if you live it, you learn it!

p.s.  I mentioned this on Face Book and got many neat ideas and stories of how families handled their rules and mealtimes.  So....it's NOT just me......