And other thoughts on manners.

Let me tell you about my journey to finding out how to eat noodles the right way!

Growing up, my family would make spaghetti. It was an easy, cheap meal (and not too unhealthy, either).

It was always a fun challenge–could I slurp my noodle all the way without staining my clothes? Well, could I?

I never found out, because each time I tried it, the words came,

• “Don’t slurp!”
• “That’s gross!”
• “Bad manners!”

Years later, I found myself in Japan. I often did eat spaghetti, but there was a different noodle catching my attention–ramen!

Oh, it looked so good, with the seaweed, egg, meat, and scallions! So, I decided to try it for myself. The ramen shops in Japan are all abuzz with customers and cooks. It’s a noisy environment.

And everyone was slurping! They were slurping the noodles and then they were slurping the broth. I was impressed, but I couldn’t bring myself to join them.

After being in Japan for a couple of months, finally one of my Japanese friends breached the topic with me.

“There’s no sound when you eat noodles,” they said, teasing me. I gave what I thought was a justified response, “I don’t want to eat them too quickly. I want to chew on my noodles before swallowing.”

They looked at me, “You do chew on them before you swallow.”

I looked at them. Oh. I thought, I didn’t know that…

I couldn’t think of any good comebacks.

Realizing that I probably didn’t know anything about how to slurp noodles, my friend gave me some tips.

“It’s like drinking from a straw,” she said, “and if you do it right, it cools the noodle down on the way in, so you don’t burn your tongue.”

I began practicing at home, in privacy at first (I was too embarrassed to try in public), and it began to come naturally to me.

What an efficient way to eat noodles! And fun, too!

I now think that slurping noodles should be acceptable in all cultures, because it really is the best way to eat noodles.

NOTE: The Japanese also commonly slurp soup to cool it down as they eat, as well.

The Main Idea

When it comes to “good manners” and “bad manners” we can’t assume that we know it all. After all, there are nearly 200 countries in the world, and each one comes with their own practices and cultural rules. The chance that two cultures across the world from each other would behave exactly the same is highly unlikely.

When we meet new people, it is very important to understand what is culturally acceptable to them, as well as letting them know what makes us feel comfortable/uncomfortable.

If we all took the time to pay attention to those around us, we would get along a lot more.

Now, we may not have the time or ability to do this with every single person, nor can we expect everyone to treat us the way we feel we should be treated. So, even more than the last point, I would emphasize this:

Getting offended shows pure lack of intelligence.

Why? Two reasons:

1. The other person probably meant no offense in the first place.
2. When we become offended because of our own assumptions, we are showing how ignorant we are.

We can’t really expect everyone to think the same way we do, can we? Honestly, no. Besides how boring that would be, it would also be completely and radically troublesome, because all of humanity would struggle with the exact same problems and no one would be around to fix them!

So before you act on someone else’s perceived offense, take a couple deep breaths, and ask them what they meant.

By the time they answer, you should be calm enough to respond politely, even if they really did mean to offend you.

Comment Below!

• What is a difference in culturally acceptable manners that you’ve experienced firsthand?
• Are there some manners that you think should be applied to every culture around the world?

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