Stuck On You

I have never been one for proper etiquette. Growing up in an Indian household taught me that the best utensils are your hands and that eating does not have to be pretty. Having ventured out into the world of forks and small bites, I have learned a few things about being polite at the table.

Yesterday was my last day at the office and a few of my coworkers took me out for lunch to celebrate. I was literally grinning from ear to ear for the duration of the meal because I was so excited to start my vacation. I was starving and therefore vacuumed up my meal fairly quickly. I spent the next half an hour animatedly telling my coworkers about my upcoming travel plans. At the end of my story, one of the girls leaned across the table and told me that I had a something black stuck in between my two front teeth. Mortified I tried to use my nail as a toothpick to get it out. After countless “Is it gone yet?” checks, I finally freed the speck from its toothy cage.

I turned back towards the rest of the table only to have one of the other girls say, “Oh good, someone told you”. I turned to my other colleagues and they smiled to acknowledge that yes, I had been grinning like a hillbilly for the past half hour. Apparently I had had a fleck the size of Montana stuck in between my teeth but the rest of the crew had been too ‘polite’ to point it out.

Lesson Learned: Since you should do unto others as you would have done to you, I shall hence forth always tell people if they have something stuck in their teeth, hanging out of their nose, or smeared on their chin. Not half an hour after it has camped out on your face, but as soon as I notice it.