Re: Paper Plates
I agree, I think it is bad to look down on other people, however think that one must always rigorously assess whether they are fulfilling their duties as a good host and don’t think that being stringent with your own actions and making sure that your guest is respected as greatly as possible is at all a bad thing. I mean, you wouldn’t invite your guests to a house that was dirty, and just cover the floor with newspaper because you couldn’t be bothered to vacuum the floor (i hope). Nor would you sit around, expecting everyone to pour the food out the pans you had cooked them in, into serving dishes and serve themselves while you filed your nails.
Of course these are extreme examples I have given, but the point I’m trying to make is that we all have our own criteria of what makes a good host and we all have our own limits of what is acceptable, and pretending that we don’t is a bit sanctimonious.
We do also judge others, no matter how much we claim we don’t, for example if a friend invited me to their house for dinner at 7, then served me at 10.30 (this has happened to me before), against my best intentions, I would definitely judge them for it. I know I shouldn’t, but I do. We all have different ideas of what is hospitality and what makes a good host.
In my humble opinion, paper plates and tardiness do not a good host make.