Today we return to our topic of visiting Mount Vernon, because it would not be complete without a discussion of two subjects: George Washington's "Rules for Civility," and food. Also because not much else interesting has been happening lately.
Visitors are offered authentic 1700s cuisine at Mount Vernon in the form of a food court, complete with Pizza Hut. When engaging in this dining experience, it is helpful to have read Washington's little book, the full title of which is "Rules of Civility & Decent Behaviour in Company and Conversation and While Standing in Line at Foode Courts." (That last phrase was part of the original title but has, tragically, gone the way of the timber wolf and black bear on the grounds of Mount Vernon.)
For instance, if one happens to stand in a very long line at the food court because other patrons insist on having a personal pizza made for them on the spot, only to find when one finally arrives at the counter that there are perfectly good pizzas boxed and ready for the taking, one should "Shake not the head, Feet, or Legs, rowl not the eyes, lift not the eyebrows one higher than the other, wry not the mouth" (Rule #12). I regret to say that upon our part there was plenty of shaking and rowling and lifting and wrying of the various body parts described, as we did not know of this rule at the time, having only bought the book afterwards. Also coming in handy in this situation is Rule #49, namely, "Use no Reproachfull language against anyone." To this I might add Rule #762a (Article X, paragraph xxxijkl), which admonishes readers to "Confess not in Public the Reproachfull language ye or your Spouse may have Used against ye Neighbors out of their Hearing as ye headed to ye table to partake of pizza."
Our dining adventures did not end with our visit to Mount Vernon. On our way home we stopped at a little Italian restaurant, where we waited in vain for someone to notice that we wished to be seated at a table. Fortunately by this time we had the "Rules for Civility" book and had gotten as far as Rule #105, "Be not Angry at Table whatever happens & if you have reason to be so, shew it not but on a Cheerfull Countenance especially if there be Strangers." Otherwise there might have been more of that "Reproachfull language."
Once we were finally seated, the menu assured us that if we did not see what we wanted on the menu, we should just let our server know, and the staff would be happy to make something special for us. Apparently this did not mean the same thing in Italian as it did in English, because when we attempted to order chicken with the Ravioli di Portabello, our waitress made it clear, through a series of hand gestures and rather graphic drawings on our beverage napkins, that if we wanted chicken on a pasta dish where no chicken belonged, well, we were welcome to go kill the chicken ourselves. Upon grasping this, we endeavored to put on a "Cheerfull countenance."
Although I have only been able to offer you a smattering of George Washington's civility rules here, I hope that this discussion has shown you how these rules transcend both time and culture. Tomorrow, we will see what happens when ye Spouse refraineth not from quoting the Rules for Civility.
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