Table Manners

My boyfriend and I have been arguing this out since Sunday.

The incident is that he refuses to sit at the table once he’s finished when I’m still eating. He claims he’s never been asked to conform to this, and strongly objects to being asked to. What he’s doing is as soon as he’s finished, he’ll get up, taking his plate and start the washing up.

I complain to him “Please” and he says “I want to get things done”
I tell him “But it’s lonely for anyone still at the table” he says “But I’m still in the same room” (But it isn’t the same, is it?)
I tell him “The washing-up can wait” he says “My job and I want to get it done” so I reply “I’ll do it when I’m finished” and he goes “But you won’t though” (Which is a fallacy – I do my fair share)
He says “It’s boring” and I say “We can talk” but he says he’s “Nothing to talk about”

What am I to do?

Both of us like feeling like a family together, so why can’t we have family rules?
I might be being too traditional, but this is a modernisation too far.

When I was little, we had family meals (with these rules) as often as possible, and he’s only a year younger.
And it’s more than a little frustrating when I spend hours cooking a Sunday roast to be left all alone at the table eating it.