Eating Out

Eating Out
 
            Eating out of the original carton or container is about as far removed from my mother’s definition of and expectations for eating as you can get.  The idea that a family might eat pizza right out of the box it was delivered in, or that you could eat left-over Chinese take-out as a snack right out of the carton was incomprehensible to her.  Seeing someone drink milk directly from the carton would have put her in a tailspin.
 
            Despite her humble, rural upbringing, she knew that genteel folks—in fact, all folks—eat their food from a plate, with portions served from a larger plate or bowl that held enough for the entire family.   She had very strict views about this.  Children did not eat raisins from a box.  The box was what the raisins came in from the store.  Little children ate raisins that had been moved from the box to a tin measuring cup with a handle for little fingers to hold tight.  Teenagers were served sodas in tall glasses, the drink poured from the bottle, even if the teenager drank all that was in the bottle.  Fathers poured cold water from the refrigerator jug into a glass, and refilled the glass if necessary.  No one would eat cookies straight from a bag.  They must be arranged on a plate, and the plate offered to the hungry cookie lover.
 
            How difficult it would be for her today, watching French fries being served in waxed paper, and hamburgers in Styrofoam boxes.  She’d probably have a picnic box in the car, with colored paper plates and napkins for the hamburger and small side bowls for the French fries.
 
            It does seem more civilized doing it her way.