Mabel did things nicely. It’s not that she was a snob. She wasn’t. But she had been brought up to do things nicely. She’d taught her children how to do things nicely as well, such as setting the table properly; holding a knife and fork correctly; folding a napkin creatively; making the drinking glasses and cutlery sparkle on the table. Hopefully, her children had passed these things onto their children. Her son and his three kids were coming to dinner tonight!
Mabel set the table!
They arrived!
“What’s for dinner, Gran?” they chorused.
“You shall have to wait and see.”
Dinner time arrived.
The four guests went to the table, grabbed a plate each, piled the food, and went and sat in front of the TV. Mabel was stunned. She bit her tongue.
The next time they came for dinner, she’d got rid of her television set. The ploy didn’t work; they sat on the floor eating their dinner, phones in hand.