More Parents Outsourcing Etiquette

(CBS)  In an age when dining out often means dining out of a paper bag, it seems quaint that someone, somewhere is still teaching the finer points of etiquette.

But, as CBS News Correspondent John Blackstone reports, Syndi Seid's classes in San Francisco are part of a recent flourishing of etiquette schools across the country, teaching lessons that were once taught by parents.

So why aren't these rules already instilled at home?

"Because they're not around, I guess," says Seid.

For busy families, like the Plonskers, where both parents, Patricia and Jeff, work long hours, sending Joey, 17, and Pearl, 12, to etiquette school seemed a fast track to domestic order.

"I don't want to spend my time nitpicking them, but of course I won't let them throw rolls across the table," says Patricia Plonsker.

Or "shout with their mouth full or interrupt," says husband Jeff Plonsker.

At dinnertime, even Fred the family dog, is expected to mind his manners.

"The only way for him to be with us is to know the rules," says Patricia Plonsker.

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