Food: Social Tool?
by
Karen Kao
Other than stress relieving, food also acts as my social tool.
Since I was in elementary school, food has been playing a big part in my popularity at school. I was one of the few people in my whole class who brought our own food for lunch, and other people were jealous to see me eat good food every day. My lunch was always the hot issue of the day and everyone was eager to see what I would eat that day. They would surround me like ants attached to honey, due to their interest in my food. That evolved into interest in me as a person and hence food acted as an icebreaker between my classmates and me. It is probably at this time I learned that food was a way of developing my relationship with people. When I met someone for the first time and I did not know how to break that awkward moment, I always began our conversation with food and we gradually found our common aspects simply by asking of their favorite food.
Moreover, I found that eating with people bonded us together. Sharing our interest in food and exploring for delicious food became a common hobby I frequently enjoyed with my friends. It was clear that food was not only a fantastic initiative but also a wonderful factor that developed my relationship with those I loved. There was an article I read about a scientific experiment performed by the professors of psychology. It was shown that the level of friendship between two people correlated to the amount of time they spent together eating. After reading this article, I realized that the reason why I have been able to have many friends and form deep relationships with them, was because of the time I invested in eating with them. I was also aware of the fact that as much as I developed good feeling about one person through food, he or she would do the same for me. The more I eat with a friend, the increasing chance that he or she will develop a good feeling about me. Knowing this useful fact, food has been a tactic of mine to initiate, develop, and further enhance my relationship with people. When you want to be friends with someone, you can simply invite them to a meal – I guarantee that after this meal, you will be much closer than you were before.
Works cited:
http://chriskohatsu.wordpress.com/
I find your essay really interesting. Your voice shows through your writing, and it flows well. Even though I never really thought about it, I suppose that I have bonded with a lot of people over food and mealtimes. I've never deliberately sought out the topic of food, but it is something that everyone has in common.
ReplyDeleteUsing food as an icebreaker - that's a great idea! I usually ask if the person has any pets or what their favorite class is, but I think I'll try this next time!
In the beginning, you wrote, "Other than stress relieving, food also acts as my social tool." Next time I wouldn't add the stress relief part, because you don't talk about it in the essay; it doesn't seem to have a purpose. Great job!
I appreciate your comment! You should try talking about food with someone you do not know well because that can definitely help you know that person better and that is what everyone loves and has in common. Food has been a big topic between me and my friends so it definitely is a good way to break the dead air!
ReplyDeleteI believe food plays a big part in stress relieving for a lot of people and I thought that could drag people into the essay, and then I can give them another perspective about food. That was how I felt when I wrote it!