Then notice the tables where only 7th/8th grade girls sat - they are so clean you could ... well, you could eat off them. The older girls make NO mess, there's no spills, no mangled styrofoam trays, can't even spot a single crumb, truely spotless.
Now notice the tables where 7th/8th grade boys sat with 7th/8th grade girls - interesting huh. No mess, maybe a tiny crumb or two but nothing got ripped up, nothing got spilled during an intense but oh-so-fun game of keep-away, and nothing got smashed due to a spontaneous friendly wrestling match, and ALL the trash is thrown away. AND those older boys who chose to sit with girls didn't seem bored out of their minds that they were missing all the excitement at the other tables.
(cute and sweet huh how that works. As long as there's no actual contact - they're all way too young.)
Another interesting observation, this one during an outdoor lunch a few days back - Out of the corner of my eye I saw little baby carrots flying like missiles and I headed over to tell a bunch of 8th grade boys to stop - stop wasting food, stop making a mess, stop hitting each other, be a good example, blah, blah, blah, like they're really listening - but suddenly they were each sitting up straight and all intently looking in the same direction, their eyes "tracking" something, no, someONE. The beautiful 18ish-year-old daughter of one of the teachers walked up the sidewalk, through the lunch area, and over toward her mom's classroom. I looked around the picnic tables and saw that MANY of the boys were watching her, some of them whispering questions to each other about who she was, and comments that are great compliments if you speak 13/14-year-old-ese. Funny, they were in like 2nd/3rd when she was here as an 8th grader.And observations of Kindergarten lunch - The enjoyment of tray destruction, the constant wiggliness, and the repeated accidental spilling/squirting/spewing something on themselves or their neighbor don't seem to be gender specific at this age. Some of the Kinders (girls and boys) are fairly neat and tidy at lunch if no one bumps them, but most of them (girls and boys) end up with major crumbs, sticky or greasy hands, and spills ranging from trickling creeks to disastrous floods. However, there are a few little boys who try real hard to be very grown up and careful and have the best manners when their favorite 7th/8th grade girl helps TA during their lunch.
1st-6th graders' table manners and their ability to not spill everything seem to gradually improve over the years for both boys and girls - I guess until the boys' hormones start to kick in and they revert to caveman or medieval table etiquette unless girls are present. Girls also do nice things like reminding their 8th grade male classmate to hug his mother.
