Dear Queenie,
If several people go out to eat together at a restaurant and at the end of the meal only one of them wants to order dessert while the rest of them are ready to leave, is it rude for that one person to order dessert and keep the others waiting, or is it rude for them to force that person to go without dessert?—Restaurant Etty Ket
Dear Etty Ket,
It is always rude to force one’s preferences on someone else.
The person who wants to order dessert should ask the others whether they mind waiting while he (or she) orders and eats. If they do mind, that person can then decide whether to go ahead, order and eat while the others leave without him/her, or to go without dessert and leave with the others.
