I wanted to reflect at bit on the notion of social class... in particular, the bourgeoisie.

I want to share an experience I had as a cadet while attending a leadership seminar. This may seem a little off topic, but I will get to my main point. As a cadet, we were taught how to properly present yourself at a military mess dinner. Prior to this service, we were taught the essentials of mess etiquette. This entailed several ways on how to "perform" without showing any misconduct or disrespect, which of course could be very embarrassing considering there are high ranking officers lurking at the other side of the table. Anyways, what were we taught? We were taught how to use a different fork, spoon and knife for each meal, this in itself was extremely confusing considering the vast array of silverware on either side of your plate! We were told to never put your elbows on the table which clearly, as I had accidentally did so, realized that it was a sign of disrespect. Also we could never speak directly to the person you wanted to have a conversation with. For example, if you wanted to ask the person to your far left for the butter, you would have to pass the message along to the person directly beside you and then they will pass the message to the next person and thus the chain continues. However, this often took awhile and by the time you got want you wanted, you had already lost your appetite, well at least I did. Other etiquette's we were taught was to simply show respect to others and never create any bodily sounds...!
My main point here is that, I can only assume that this lifestyle was more or less a reflection of how the bourgeoisie lived. After all, they have to present themselves in a manner that is above the rest of society. Although this was a military mess dinner, A believe, and I stand corrected, that the same rules and regulations applied to the bourgeoisie class. Therefore, I just want to emphasize the stress and pressure this class may have went through in order to uphold a reputation that has been passed down through generations. Although the bourgeoisie is above the society, they are often misrepresented.

i just wanted to share this with you all....Rohan S