DEAR ABBY: I have a pet peeve with my husband's family and am wondering if I am wrong. My in-laws often pick up a toothpick and use it while we are still seated at the dinner table. This happens even in restaurants. When they dine in my home, they leave their used toothpicks lying around. It's disgusting.
My mother-in-law is now starting to floss her teeth in public. I believe these activities should be done in private. Is there any written protocol about the use of toothpicks? I know my mother-in-law reads your column, and I'm hoping she won't miss this. -- "PICKED" OFF
DEAR "PICKED": I agree that good manners dictate oral hygiene should be attended to away from the dinner table, and so does Emily Post. In Emily Post's "Etiquette" (18th edition), she writes, "Toothpicks should be used in private, not as you walk out of the restaurant or, worse still, at the table." The same is true of flossing, in order to avoid having one's dental detritus land on the table or, worse, on a dinner companion.