Being “Naught-tea” – 1 February 2011

So the other day, I was standing around at some form of event and it was the sort of thing where teas and coffees are offered at the end. There were the murmurs of “a black coffee please” and “a very dark brown tea please”. All very polite. But then someone said “Tea, please, one sugar… I know it’s naughty.” That didn’t seem quite right. Naughty? One sugar? I mean, I understand the slight embarrassment if it were, for example, three sugars or more. But one? Really?

I later went and got a biscuit. Someone joked, “I saw that,” as if it were a bad thing that I was taking one. Why should it be, even jokingly, frowned upon to eat a biscuit? Again, I would understand if I were taking a handful, but a single shortbread? It just seems silly. I accept that I didn’t need it, but they were there to be consumed.

I presume that it goes back to the days when food was not as plentiful as it is now. But even still, if something is on offer, why not take advantage of it?