Students of Bloomfield Hall School were taken to The Coffee Pot Bistro on an educational trip where the owner of the restaurant Shamama Arbab gave them a lesson on baking and acquainted them on the etiquettes of eating at a restaurant. They were shown how to choose a meal from a menu card, behave with waiters and conduct themselves in a place where they could come across all sorts of people. They were taught not to stare at the opposite gender and behave like ‘ladies and gentlemen at all times.’
The principal of Bloomfield Hall, Mrs Mehr, accompanied them and explained that the aim of the school was not just to make scholars but groom them to be productive citizens of the society.
She emphasized the importance of mannerism and the role it played in the development of the society. Mrs Mehr hoped this exercise would benefit the children to hold their own in public and conduct themselves with dignity.
Parents used to take their children out to restaurants once in a while to teach them how to behave in public and practice the table manners they had been taught at home. Sadly, this trend changed when maids started feeding children rather than their own mothers who thought it was a messy and tiresome job. As a result, we see a whole generation of children and grownups with no idea how to behave in public places, especially restaurants.
