On the Florence to Rome train in September 1981, I sat next to a dour Italian peasant woman who very kindly gave me her second salami roll (which later struck me might've been her dinner for the second leg of her Florence–Naples journey). A touching encounter (https://piccola-chinita.blogspot.com/2011/07/firenze-roma-train.html), which turned into a guardian-angel story (https://piccola-chinita.blogspot.com/2026/05/the-guardian-angels-in-ones-life-15.html).
She also tried to share her already-opened can of cola with me after the salami roll lunch, although she did wipe the opening with a tissue first before offering it to me. I was politely adamant about not taking up her kind offer.
My upbringing also drew the line at taking a bite out of a half-eaten apple offered to me by a good friend, even though we had, by then (in the 90s), known each other for around a decade and I love him dearly.
My W.Australia-based nephew and his wife (from Malaysia) spent a few days in London after their tour of Europe. Out on the bus one day, he drank from his bottle of water with the mouth of the bottle an inch or so above his lips.
This seems to be quite a common, though not universal, practice among Chinese people that I've observed on a number of occasions. It is so that they can share the water with other people. A good habit, I must say.
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