Since Americans often lay their silverware down during the meal, certain customs have developed. It is not considered good manners to leave a spoon in a soup bowl or coffee cup or any other dish. It is put where it will lie flat (a coffee spoon on the saucer, a soup spoon on the service plate beside the soup bowl, etc.) but not on the tablecloth. By doing this, one is less likely to knock the silverware onto the floor or spill the food. Another difference in custom is that Americans and Europeans use the side of the soup spoon, not the tip. Americans do not use silverware for eating bread. They hold it in their fingers, usually breaking it first. Other things that Americans eat with their fingers are corn on the cob, celery, radishes, and olives. In America a person does not eat lettuce that way, nor pick up a soup bowl to drink what remains at the bottom.