My work colleagues and I made the decision yesterday to do something a bit different and have a barbecue for lunch. We have the required facilities at work, so we decided to take advantage of them.
To the uneducated observer, the act of BBQing looks just like a group of blokes standing around a hotplate looking at sausages and other assorted animal products cooking away. This is far from the truth however. You see, this is a social ritual, fraught with danger and traps for the uninitiated. It is "Secret Men's Business"!
As with any ritual, there is a hierarchy that must be strictly observed. The person who suggested that we have the barbie becomes the de facto leader. This person is easily identified because they are the one who has the tongs. The tongs are the symbol of power. Every other bloke wants to wield them, and the whole group knows it. Thus, the rest of the group arrange themselves and jockey for position to be the next in line to the tongs.
The complication is, that etiquette dictates that no-one else is allowed to touch the tongs without them being handed to you. Simply picking up the tongs is tantamount to picking up his wife and having your wicked way with her. Social isolation and exclusion from the group is sure to follow. If the tongs are simply put down, there they must stay there until the leader picks them up again.
If you are handed the tongs my the leader, you can assume that the leader has decreed you worthy of higher honour and supreme trust - a cherished position indeed. New respect is won from the group and the rewards must surely follow. This is a rare phenomenon, and one almost never observed by those outside the group.
Once the barbie has been cooked, the whole social fabric relaxes, The last part of the ritual is to complement the tong bearer on their expert handling of the tongs and the cooking of the sausages.
There is far more to BBQ Etiquette than this, but that will do for now.
My question is, "What other bits of etiquette should be observed at a BBQ?"
Until next time,
CfB
To the uneducated observer, the act of BBQing looks just like a group of blokes standing around a hotplate looking at sausages and other assorted animal products cooking away. This is far from the truth however. You see, this is a social ritual, fraught with danger and traps for the uninitiated. It is "Secret Men's Business"!
As with any ritual, there is a hierarchy that must be strictly observed. The person who suggested that we have the barbie becomes the de facto leader. This person is easily identified because they are the one who has the tongs. The tongs are the symbol of power. Every other bloke wants to wield them, and the whole group knows it. Thus, the rest of the group arrange themselves and jockey for position to be the next in line to the tongs.
The complication is, that etiquette dictates that no-one else is allowed to touch the tongs without them being handed to you. Simply picking up the tongs is tantamount to picking up his wife and having your wicked way with her. Social isolation and exclusion from the group is sure to follow. If the tongs are simply put down, there they must stay there until the leader picks them up again.
If you are handed the tongs my the leader, you can assume that the leader has decreed you worthy of higher honour and supreme trust - a cherished position indeed. New respect is won from the group and the rewards must surely follow. This is a rare phenomenon, and one almost never observed by those outside the group.
Once the barbie has been cooked, the whole social fabric relaxes, The last part of the ritual is to complement the tong bearer on their expert handling of the tongs and the cooking of the sausages.
There is far more to BBQ Etiquette than this, but that will do for now.
My question is, "What other bits of etiquette should be observed at a BBQ?"
Until next time,
CfB
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