So, let’s talk food. Pasta, pizza, popsicles… Who did you have your last meal with? Your mother, father, sister, brother? Your best friend? Spouse? A date? Maybe your dog? Or your best pal hamster? One more question for you—did you think anything of that last question? Was it at all odd that I asked with whom you ate your last meal with (besides the fact that it’s a slightly stalkerish question)? I mean, it’s a pretty safe assumption, right? You did eat with someone, didn’t you? Are you weirded out by the question? Are you weirded out by the fact that I’m asking you so many questions? Too many questions? Can’t keep up? Okay, I’ll stop.
Really though, is it odd that it’s normal to eat with others? Eating and socializing seem to go together; like, ‘I need to go put calories into my body in order to function properly, would you like to do so with me?’ Well, we all need to eat, so why not do it together?
What is it about food that makes us think ‘socialize’? Then again, what is it about socializing that makes us think ‘food’? When you and a friend are going to get together to catch up, I bet the first few things that come to mind are to meet for dinner, lunch, or coffee. Or breakfast. As though we need something to do while we talk (Or we need a distraction from the awkwardness of socializing. Socializing is hard. Food makes it all better). And then I am sure you go through the whole process of ‘where do you want to eat?’ ‘oh, I don’t know, where do you want to eat?’ and end up picking that one place that seems to be everyone’s go-to place to eat.
It could totally be a cultural thing—perhaps non-USA cultures don’t eat and socialize at the same time. But perhaps they do, and we all are mad. It’s odd that it’s odd to see someone eating alone. Seeing someone eating alone seems to inspire pity in others. As though it indicates a sort of… friendlessness?
Even if you don’t have actual live humans sitting in front of you as you eat, sometimes they are in your phone, in Facebook, in the television as you watch your favorite show, or in that book in your hands. That’s not so odd, is it now? Because you’re still spending this time with other people, even if they aren’t actually there. Totally not odd. Am I right?
I spent the majority of my lunches the first year of high school eating in the science hallway alone, because it was more often than not abandoned (who wants to hang around the science rooms on their lunch break anyway?). When my friends found out they were horrified, and from then on I was forced to sit with them for lunch, and over the four years our lunch table grew from a small handful to about fifteen. It was hard to eat with so much conversation, let me tell you. And yet, I will admit, I enjoyed it. Usually.
However, I do now eat dinner alone most nights, at my college cafeteria. And I don’t mind, not anymore. I felt awkward at first, because I felt the pressure to find someone to sit with as I ate. I was sure I was attracting the piteous looks of ‘oh, she’s eating alone…’. But now, I sit down, open up Pokémon Go, and every few minutes I spin the Pokéstop so conveniently placed there. And I let my mind wander, and my eyes and ears wander as I eavesdrop on others’ conversations (shh, you didn’t hear that!). I don’t care either way, because eating alone isn’t odd. I rather enjoy it. And why shouldn’t I? After all, my imaginary friend keeps me company when I start to feel lonely.
