Picky Eater at a Swanky Party- was I rude?

[HogwartsAlum]

As long as you're not commenting on the food, you're fine picking through it.  May I suggest a modified technique  for fancy dinners that might make it less obvious, though?  Rather than depositing everything you don't like to one side, try to just get the bits you like on the fork, leaving behind an "enriched" pile of whatsits.  There's usually way more food than a real serving on the plate, and
with some of your food left over, and a few smears of sauce, you can get enough to eat without looking like you're doing a food analysis on it.  <g>

That's what I do.  Usually people give me way too much anyway, so it looks like I just got full.  I can't stand mushrooms or celery so I have to eat around them.  If it's a buffet and I serve myself, I just get a small serving if I'm not sure about it.  If I like it I can always go back for more. 

You were fine; Mr Food Critic was rude.

[Twik]

Mr. Commentator must have been trained by my Grade 7 Home Ec teacher.

One of our first lessons (after, believe it or not, making toast!) was segmenting an orange, putting the segments on a plate, and decorating the centre with a maraschino cherry. After we'd done this, we were to eat our creations.

I don't care for maraschino cherries, so I left mine on the plate.

I was harangued for a good ten minutes by the teacher about how it was so rude to leave something uneaten on the plate. I kept saying I'd never intended to eat it - if left to our own devices, I'd have left it off, but she told us to add the cherry! I ended up picking up the cherry, palming it whilst pretending to eat it, and depositing it in the garbage on the way out.

I transferred out of Home Ec as quickly as possible. No way I was going to end up in detention for a maraschino cherry!

[P_Cloud]

May I suggest a modified technique for fancy dinners that might make it less obvious, though?  Rather than depositing everything you don't like to one side, try to just get the bits you like on the fork, leaving behind an "enriched" pile of whatsits.  There's usually way more food than a real serving on the plate, and
with some of your food left over, and a few smears of sauce, you can get enough to eat without looking like you're doing a food analysis on it.  <g>

I agree with this suggestion. Using this method, nobody will even be able to tell what it was you were avoiding.

Is it possible the man that commented on the beets was trying to make a little joke or something? That would still be a little rude, anyway, but not as bad.

[fklwmn]

May I suggest a modified technique for fancy dinners that might make it less obvious, though?  Rather than depositing everything you don't like to one side, try to just get the bits you like on the fork, leaving behind an "enriched" pile of whatsits.  There's usually way more food than a real serving on the plate, and
with some of your food left over, and a few smears of sauce, you can get enough to eat without looking like you're doing a food analysis on it.  <g>

I agree with this suggestion. Using this method, nobody will even be able to tell what it was you were avoiding.

Is it possible the man that commented on the beets was trying to make a little joke or something? That would still be a little rude, anyway, but not as bad.

Oh, I think he was totally trying to be funny. He said something like "You need to eat those beets, young lady!" as if her were speaking to a small child. Coming from a VERY good friend I might have laughed, but it was not funny coming from someone I didn't know a bit. I may LOOK 17, but I'm almost 30! Please do not draw atention to my eating habits!!

I just rasied my eyebrow at him and refrained from saying "I've been choosing my own meals for enough years to know what I do and do not need to eat, thank you." *sigh*