now for the ladies - if you brought a purse with you that purse should never be placed on the table. it has probably been on the floor at some point in time, so there might be a lot of bacteria on the bottom of that purse, and you don't want that up on the table where people are eating. so, place it in your chair, or if you have an arm on your chair, you could hang it on the arm, or you can place it on the floor. if you place it on the floor, make sure that it is pushed up under the table so no one will trip over that purse - especially guests and servers. now, a little bit about what to do with your napkin: this is a dinner napkin so as soon as you sit down, you want to unfold your napkin and you want to place it in your lap. now, we don't need to give it a healthy shake, do we? so unfold it to the point where it is folded half in two, and place the folded side up next to your body so that you can blot when you need to. now, i said 'blot.' i didn't s...