I’ve made a casual observation many times in trips to places like the mall food court. Have you noticed how people don’t eat together?
I mean, if you go to the mall with a group of people or with a spouse or friend, you’ll eat with them, surely. But if you’re just shopping by yourself and you decide to get lunch, you’ll be eating by yourself. And so will every other solitary person.
This is not to imply that public eating places should be meat markets for meeting other singles for dating. Yes, let’s keep that in the smoky bars, clubs, and church socials. What I mean is that here is an oddly available moment where meeting a person casually could be very easy. Lunch is a very short meal - if you don’t like the person, it doesn’t last forever. And if you do, isn’t that potential for friendship more valuable?
Perhaps this is a limitation of our culture. I wonder if folks in countries where the population density is higher are more inclined to sit together than here in the States. I suppose that if there are only four seats in a place, then when the third person sits down there will be at least some interaction.
It always seemed a shame to me that people keep to themselves, when there are so many people to meet. What I find even more odd in this observation is that I am often a participant.
If you were eating alone and someone came and sat across from you instead of the empty table nearby, would you participate in conversation? Or would you bug out?
