I don't switch from right to left when I am cutting and eating, I just use the fork in my left hand then.

I grew up with just my mom. She was a single mom often working 12 hour days to support us, but she still insisted on making a homemade meal every night for dinner. We did not have many of the things most people take for granted today, like dishwashers, air conditioning, cable TV, and for awhile even a washer and dryer (we had to go to the laundromat). So Mom did the best she could do after long exhausting work days followed by making a meal every night. She made sure I knew basic table manners but did not practice all the "proper" utensil usage. Of course I used a fork/spoon and not my hands for foods (except like pizza and burgers). She did the best she could to bring me up as "civilized" as possible, and I love her for it.

I really don't think of it as civilized versus uncivilized. I look at it as formal versus informal. At home I am informal. At a restaurant I am formal. With guests I am more formal than without.