01 Oct 2013

Conversations From 20-Somethings

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Not too long ago, I asked Veronica if she had ever eaten alone before at a restaurant. She told me she hadn’t and I was a little shocked, but I really shouldn’t have been because it’s something that I have only done a couple times before. And if we’re being quite honest here, I didn’t do “eating solo” very well. For as long as I have known, eating by yourself always represented something negative when it should’ve been a reflection of something positive. If you’re eating by yourself, it should be seen that you are an independent person that knows how to enjoy a good meal on your own. However, movies and television paint it as you are someone that has no friends and no one to eat with; life is really depressing and there’s a dark cloud over your head and you’re eating alone. Womp womp.

There have been a lot of vulnerable moments in my life, but one of them is definitely being “okay” with eating by myself and I’m not even there yet. It’s difficult because you’re not really sure where you’re supposed to look. Do you keep your head down and only focus on your food? What if you daze off and the table next to you wonders why you’re creepily staring at them? Also in this day and age, we cannot disconnect. The reason why I fail so hard at eating solo is because I feel the need to cling to my technological attachment. Oh I don’t know what to do with my hands in between bites? Let me scroll through my entire Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest feed. It’s a clutch and it’s an unhealthy one. So readers, I’m curious to know – have you mastered the art of eating alone and how do you do it?