[NABS-L] Dining Etiquette

[Tara Briggs]

Hey Jason! Welcome to eating as a blind person! We’ve all been there! Probably one of the best things I can do just for you would be to practice when you’re by yourself. He could also start with something like toast and tried cutting up with a knife and fork. Then you can look at what you’re doing. One of the best things you can do is eat small bites! If you lift your fork up and it feels heavy and that might mean at the bite is too big. I hope other people pass on their tips and tricks. I have found that the sharper The knife,  the easier it is to cut food.
Tara

Sent from my iPhone

> On Oct 26, 2018, at 4:21 PM, Jason Perenski via NABS-L <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Hi,
> I hope this is the right place to ask about this. My ability to
> gracefully cut food with a fork and knife is abysmal. This is an
> uncomfortable situation to discuss since dining is so essential for
> social and business situations, and these skills are usually so
> incredibly obvious and second nature for most people. I know everyone
> struggles with something, but as an otherwise independent and
> successful young adult, this topic feels like something I shouldn’t be
> stumbling over.
> 
> I don't eat a lot of meat or food that needs to be cut in general, but
> I'd like to look professional in more formal social and business
> settings now that I'm about to leave college. And frankly, I also
> don't want to be the blind person who always orders something handheld
> when eating in public.
> 
> Unfortunately, no one taught me when I was younger, which is a
> widespread problem for blind children. I've read some guides online
> about proper table etiquette and how to cut something without looking
> like a slob. And I've even bought playdough to practice with. But I'm
> still lousy at it. I'm curious if anyone here has other tips or tricks
> to get more comfortable and graceful at this. To be as detailed as
> possible, here's what sometimes happens:
> 
> 1. I start cutting along the back (convex) portion of the fork, but
> I'm only partially successful at separating a bite. I end up with a
> tiny bit of meat clinging to the large piece and it's difficult to
> tell when I've successfully finished cutting something. This happens a
> lot with larger, rounded cuts, where a good edge to start from isn’t
> available or obvious. I place the fork in and position the knife along
> the back of it, but the thing to be cut extends well past the tines of
> the fork to either side. In theory I should easily be able to tell
> when the knife scrapes the plate and there's no more meat to cut, but
> in practice I'm not always successful at it.
> 2. While cutting, I start shifting the thing to be cut around the
> plate and, occasionally, start actually sliding the plate around. I
> don't know if this has something to do with technique or perhaps even
> strength. This happens less and less with experience, but it's still
> uncomfortable when it does.
> 3. This all becomes a bigger challenge with more complicated dishes
> (meat with sauce on top, or plates with several other items).
> 
> Is this something you've ever related to, or is it just me? Were you
> taught any alternative techniques that might be helpful? Am I missing
> something obvious? Is my technique possibly incorrect? Are there meals
> you find easier to handle than others? All of this makes me feel like
> a bit of an inept loser for a skill that shouldn't be difficult. If
> you have skills or techniques to make this process more seamless and
> graceful, I'd love to hear them.
> 
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