Or the blanket...until they take those away too.

"Why don't F passengers 'button' their napkins?"

Perhaps because it's so gauche ... ;)

(from one almost always attired in T-shirt, jeans and sneakers)

Me too neither, as my kids used to say!

Plus, I don't make a habit of spilling food all over my environs, anyway.

My brain hurts.

I've always used the button!

As a matter of fact, I've often wondered why restaurants (especially Italian where I'm prone to getting sauce on myself) don't offer these. :)

Much better to look bad during my flight than ruin a tie or shirt! (Which I've also done. :( )

So that's what the slot/hole in the napkin is for :cool: . I learn something new every day :eek: .

I'll admit, I'm a buttoner.

C.R. Smith would be proud of all you buttonholers.

So is a "buttoned" napkin the new way to identify flyertalkers on board AA?

I don't button and have never seen anyone do it.

Normal dining etiquette is to put the napkin on your lap...unless you are a total spazz there is no reason you should need a napkin over your shirt (under normal conditions).

However, as the table here is much lower you have a much greater chance of making a mess, so I think you can get a pass buttoning the napkin on your shirt - I do it all the time.

I also button.

We're gonna need a secret handshake!

Count me in as a buttoner. And here I thoiught I was the only one. Etiquette be damned; previously, there was no way I could sit in that awkward eating position, and not end up with occasional drips of salad dressing on my shirt.

As others have observed, putting the napkin on your lap is redundant, as it is already covered by the tray.

OK, I have now some hard data on the 'buttoning' frequency.

On SFO-JFK-SFO I observed 60 F pax, including myself. Of these, there were 38 eligible candidates for buttoning (adults dressed in buttoning-compatible attire). A total of 8 pax did button (counting myself here twice, once in each direction).

This gives us a 21% BFE (Buttoning Frequency, Eligible). If I take myself, a known buttoner, out of the sample set, we come to 16% BFE; still a respectable number.

Regarding the methodology: I refrained from buttoning myself until I had taken the count to avoid undue influence through peer pressure. BFE was used since the propensity of buttoning cannot be determined for individuals not wearing buttoning-compatible attire. Sample set on these bicoastal flights may not be representative of the entire US flying population. Further data collection and analysis is indicated.

Hope this helps everyone. :p

Sami