So then we stick with the common sense position that accompanies most hosted meals. The people fed themselves. Thanks.
“I am not sure” is actually the common sense position when one does not have grounds to be sure. Most hosted meals at the time involved eating from a reclining position, and this would certainly hinder everyone from getting up and helping themselves to a specific loaf.
Indeed, given the reclining nature, and the verb “didwmi” the image of “the people fed themselves,” which to me is “the people helped themselves” fails. There is Jesus—he is right between the potatoes and the lamb, be sure to get some because he is really good. And get some mint jelly on the lamb while you are at it.
As to what the Apostles did, it does not matter to me too much on a daily basis. On a daily basis, it does matter to me what I do, and it seems to me that the common sense position when receiving my very God under the form of food is not to adopt the manners proper to a buffet but to express adoration both interiorly and exteriorly as profoundly as possible and to recognize that God is active and I am passive, so it seems to me that the common sense thing is to kneel and receive on the tongue. I can accept as possible that in some cultures some other symbolism might work better.