DEAR MISS MANNERS: During a brief conversation with a friend, she told me that it is bad manners to cut your over-easy eggs with a fork and knife so they are broken and mixed up, or to use toast to soak up over-easy eggs. She said she was appalled and very embarrassed when her former boyfriend ate his eggs this way during a breakfast with her family.

I’ve never heard of this, and before I go out to a brunch with this friend, I’d like to know if this is indeed bad manners. Otherwise, I will always order my eggs scrambled so as not to offend anyone in public.

GENTLE READER: Dining etiquette focuses on how one eats, not what, which is why Miss Manners is indifferent to how much egg ends up on the toast, caring only how it got there.

Licking the plate is out, as is grasping the toast firmly in your fist and using it to grind down everything in its way. But if you can accomplish your cutting and mixing without attracting attention — unlikely, in that friend’s case — she will leave you to enjoy your meal.

Please send your questions to Miss Manners at her website, www.missmanners.com; to her email, [email protected]; or through postal mail to Miss Manners, Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106.