Diplomacy Dealing with Drunkeness

“‘We mustn't offend him,’ said the proprietor. ‘I'll tell you what to do.’ Then he whispered to the head waiter, and went away. The head waiter called a waiter and in turn whispered to him. Then he went away…” — Restaurant wait staff, circa 1900 

“I know now why one Tenderloin restaurant keeper is successful,” remarked a Wall street broker the other day. “I was in the main dining room at 6 o'clock one evening with a party of men. We noticed a little commotion near the entrance, and saw that it was caused by the arrival of a well-dressed, good-natured looking man, whose bearing showed that he had been out with the boys. He wasn't noisy or offensive, but he couldn't have walked a chalk line if his life had depended on it.

“He came down the room in an uncertain way, shelled off his overcoat, put it with his hat on a chair, sat down, folded his arms on the table, and went to sleep. The waiters looked at him and ran after the head waiter. The latter walked up to the sleeping man, as though he intended to awaken him. Then he stopped and called a waiter.

“‘Go for the proprietor,’ he said. The proprietor came. ‘That's so-and-so,’ said the head waiter. ‘He's a good customer, but he's very drunk, and he's gone fast asleep. What shall I do? Shall I wake him up?’

“‘We mustn't offend him,’ said the proprietor. ‘I'll tell you what to do.’ Then he whispered to the head waiter, and went away. The head waiter called a waiter and in turn whispered to him. Then he went away.

“The waiter went to the china pantry and came back with a finger bowl. This he put on the table where the sleeping man was. In doing so he rubbed the fingers of the sleeper. The man straightened up and opened his eyes. The boy was not looking at him, but had picked up the water bottle and was filling the finger bowl. In doing so he knocked the bowl with the bottle so that it rang like a bell. 

“The drunken man looked at it with brightening eyes. The boy paid no attention to him, but shook out a napkin which he laid beside the finger bowl. By this time the drunken man was fully awake. The boy took up his overcoat and stood respectfully at one side as if waiting for the man to rise.

“The drunken man put his hands in the finger bowl, dried his fingers on the napkin and rosе. The boy was behind him in a moment, and in another the overcoat was on the man’s back, his hat was in his hand, and he was headed for the door. He put his hand into his pocket, slipped a coin to the boy, and walked out.

“Now, that restaurant keeper is a great man. He's a diplomat. No trouble, no noise, no row, everyone satisfied and happy. That fellow ought to be an ambassador. He'd make a success of anything.” — New York Sun, 1901

🍽Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia

Turkish Etiquette and “Iced Punch”

Although alcohol is considered haram (prohibited or sinful) by the majority of Muslims, a significant minority drinks, and those who do often outdrink their Western counterparts. Among drinkers, Chad and a number of other Muslim-majority countries top the global ranking for alcohol consumption.– Washington Post, 2018 

“Max Müller, was a German-born philologist and ‘Orientalist,’ who lived and studied in Britain for most of his life. He was one of the founders of the western academic field of Indian studies and the discipline of study of religions.”– Source and photo Wikipedia 

“In Max Müller’s honor, the Sultan gave a dinner. Of course, Mrs. Max Müller was not invited, but the lady, in her ‘‘Letters from Constantinople,” describes it, and the little incident, and how the Sultan drew the line between wine and punch is amusing: ‘Nobody spoke except the Sultan, whose conversation with the Embassador was most animated, though carried on entirely by an interpreter. My husband, not knowing the Turkish etiquette, began to talk French to his neighbor, but received such very short answers that he, too, relapsed into silence. The Sultan, who had evidently seen this, beckoned to Munir Pasha, who whispered something to the Ministers of War and Marine and began to talk very pleasantly, encouraged by a look from the Sultan not to mind such a breach of etiquette. 

Neither the Sultan, nor any of the officials present, had a drop of wine. None was on the table, nor was any handed round, except to unbelievers. The claret, however, was so good that my husband could not resist asking the Grand Master of Ceremonies. ‘Who tasted and chose the wine for the Imperial table?’ He shrugged his shoulders, as though he would say, ‘You can guess.’ One of the  items of the menu was punch. It was iced punch, smelling so strongly that everyone could perceive the alcohol in it, but neither the Sultan nor any of his guests were afraid of it. It was called punch, and punch is not forbidden in the Koran.” – San Diego Union and Daily Bee, 1897

🍽Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J Graber of The RSVP Institute of Etiquette, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia