On various occasions in my adult life, I’ve met a handful of fine people who I’ve initially held in the highest regard. They’ve been smart, funny, refined, witty and/or charismatic but something that might seem relatively minor to most happens that trumps all of it.

More specifically, when I have broken bread with those people, I see that this very small segment of the population holds their fork like a Civil War infantryman who is hungry and tired from two straight days of fighting without sleep or food…or maybe a peasant worker from Medieval times who hasn’t eaten in days and is eager to make up for it. I don’t want to say that I completely write these people off for the barbaric way they hold their utensils, but I will say that it changes my perspective on them when I see it.

For this very reason, I can tell you that one thing that is taught very early on in this household is how to hold your utensils at every meal in a non-Attilla The Hun fashion. The seemingly little things can make a big difference.

(A visual of how not to hold your utensil is provided below for easy reference.)