George Washington's Rules - #9

George Washington's Rules of Civility and Decent Behavior, Rule #9 and its translation:

9th	Spit not in the Fire, nor Stoop low before it neither Put your Hands into the Flames to warm them, nor Set your Feet upon the Fire especially if there be meat before it.

This one seems fairly straight-forward:

• Don't spit in the fire;
• Don't squat in front of the fire;
• Don't put your hands into the flames to warm them;
• Don't put your feet up to the fire, especially if there is meat cooking at the fire.

These are all such common sense for me as an adult (except the one about squatting). But George Washington originally came up with these rules when he was, I think, ten, and I guess there are just some things that need to be spelled out when you are a ten year old boy.