On March 4, 2015, I attended Stockton’s Business Etiquette Dinner. I was invited to this dinner by one of my professors. It was a valuable experience and I am honored that she asked me to be her guest.

At this dinner, we learned the proper etiquette for any sort of business dinner. This could be either an interview over dinner, or some sort of business meeting. We were served a five-course meal for this dinner, and with each course we were instructed on the proper way to eat. The presentation began with an explanation of what every piece of silverware was for. We were also instructed to always follow the person hosting the dinner event for cues such as when to begin eating. Once we went over these basics, dinner began to be served.

First, we were served rolls and soup. We were instructed to rip or cut off a bite-sized piece of the roll. Then butter that individual piece and eat it. This is how we were told to eat the entire roll. The presenter mentioned that it was not proper to dip the roll in the soup, so remember that.

When I finished my roll I moved on to my soup. I had put this off because the soup had corn floating in it. I like corn, but when it is in things it kind of freaks me out. However, to avoid being improper, I ate the soup. We were given an entire slide on how to eat soup, so I was sure to sip it from the side of the spoon and to avoid making a slurping noise. The soup was surprisingly delicious, even with the freaky corn. Relieved, I finished my soup in this same, proper manner.

The next portion of the meal was our salads. I learned that if you are given two knives, which we were, one is for salad. As strange as I thought it was, I ate my salad with both my knife and fork. After the salad we were given lemon sorbet. There were no real instructions for this portion other than to not eat the lemon that held the sorbet. The lemon was strictly for presentation.

As we finished the lemon sorbet, I realized I had to get to my night class. I tried to excuse myself quietly; however, my professor did not want to let me leave without food. Because of this, my attempt at leaving caused quite a scene; however, my embarrassment eventually faded and I left with what I would have been given for dinner. After my class, I was grateful to have the dinner with me, even though obtaining it did cause a bit of a scene. Chartwells did a great job with the food for this dinner and I still do not understand why N-wing food does not taste like the food they serve at these events.