Netizen: Keeping shoes on while having lunch at a restaurant should be part of ‘basic etiquette’

Singapore — One woman who sat beside a diner who took her shoes off and raised her feet while at a restaurant at Raffles City shopping mall is appealing for said diner to learn some basic etiquette.

A woman named Jane wrote to crowdsourced news outfit Stomp saying that while she and her family were having lunch at Poulet, at the at Raffles City shopping mall, on Thursday, December 19, a woman who was also having lunch at the table next to theirs took her off her shoes, and then put her feet up on the seat beside Jane.

She took several photos of the woman sitting with her legs folded under her, bare feet clearly seen, and posted them on the site.

Jane said, ”I was having a nice family lunch when a group of three young and attractive office ladies sat at a table next to ours.

Immediately, the woman who was seated next to me, removed her shoes and placed both her bare feet on the seat!

Her bare feet were just next to me in close proximity and it was really so appalling!

Her behaviour is really inconsiderate, unacceptable and lacking in basic etiquette! Isn’t it rude and unhygienic to put one’s bare feet on the seat of a restaurant when there are other diners around?

If it was the start of my meal, I would have completely lost my appetite. We quickly finished up our meals and left the restaurant.”

While she and her family were probably too shocked by the woman’s uncouth behavior to address her personally, Jane did make an appeal over the Stomp site.

“To the barefooted lady: If you are reading this article, please learn some basic social etiquette.”

Netizens reacted in the same way as Jane did, agreeing that some degree of etiquette should be expected once you are out in public.

One commenter who goes by the name Murmur Boss wrote. “As soon as you get into public areas — which is transport, offices, airplanes, waiting rooms, anything like that — it’s no longer yours. It belongs to everybody! Etiquette to me, the true meaning of etiquette, it’s not about the knife and fork: it’s how we treat other people. And putting your feet up — where somebody else is going to sit down in a few minutes — is inappropriate.”

Another netizen, Gwen Lim, wrote that she had experienced the same thing in another eatery, and when she complained to the management, they did not approach the errant customer, but offered Ms Lim other seating.

“Had the same experience only at Putien at Ion. Do they not possess an ounce of basic social grace. Unfortunately, the restaurant management preferred to act oblivious. In my case they offered me another table away from the shoeless lady instead of politely telling her it’s inappropriate to take off your shoes in a restaurant.”

Other commenters said that the barefoot woman should have been told of her poor behavior.

One netizen wondered why some people have a “compulsive need to curl up” when seated, instead of just sitting normally.

-/TISG