Saturday, 28 May 2011

• Eating as an Intimate Act

  
  

  Where I go to college, there is a restaurant of some sort within a five minute walk of anywhere. Restaurants range from Chipotle, to privately owned sub shops, to Ethiopian restaurants, anywhere between take-out to extremely expensive fine dining near the theatre district. When I started college, I made it a not-so-subconscious goal to eat at every restaurant before I graduate. I have covered a lot of ground, and also noticed some very interesting things about eating.

  Earlier today I was texting my ROB (Really Outstanding Boyfriend!) who is still living near our college campus, with whom I have discovered many of our local restaurants and eateries. He told me was walking past a sushi place after working out and saw a couple, perhaps on a date, attempting to use chopsticks for their meals. The man looked uber confused, trying to get the placement of the chopsticks exactly as the crappy picture probably misled him to do. The woman looked annoyed and obviously distracted from her sushi. What this their first date? Are they in a serious relationship? Just friends?
  

  One of the most interesting discussions I ever had with my ROB, was that of eating as an intimate act. Eating is messy, sloppy, and slightly embarrassing if you run into something like the aforementioned chopstick situation. Do you think you look attractive when you eat? To be totally honest, you probably don't, unless you're trying to be seductive with the slow suck of a cherry off your dessert sundae.
  

  It's an act that can make you feel extremely self-conscious: judgment by the other party of the amount of calories per dish, that awkward stray splash of mayonnaise on your chin, spilling your drink on your lap, choking on the first bite of your entrée, food stuck so deep between the tiniest gaps of teeth your wished your braces fixed years ago, etc. The list of mishaps could go on.

  Still, people risk all of that when they agree to go out to eat with someone. There is that level of comfort established between the two parties. Agreeing to eat with someone one-on-one says, “I could potentially turn you off by my eating habits, but I will let you see them anyway.” I'm not saying that dining with someone for the first time is a make or break deal (unless something terribly unpredictable happens—well, then, your awesome personality will be your saving grace!), but it is one of those personal things you learn to accept about yourself and share with other people, without giving it too much thought in the first place.
  

  Sitting down at a table waiting for food to be brought out to you also lends itself for the perfect conversation setting. It allows for much eye contact and almost asks for body language to be read. There is extra pressure on you when you know you're about to eat with someone for the first time. As with anything, you want to leave a good impression on the other person upon the meal's end, especially since eating is something you will see each other do a lot of if the relationship deepens.

  How do you feel when you go out to eat with someone you're attracted to for the first time?

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