Horrible.  Silly.  If the lad can't manage to take soup to his mouth without covering himself with it, the tie is not to blame.  His best excuse is the one he hints at:  the arbitrariness of the tie.  But that argument has been given some good refutation here and elsewhere.  That said, I for period chose not to sport a tie very often; but my tie wearing's on the upswing.  Even with more casual kit.