Eating Together

I miss Frank Dining hall, and not necessarily because of the food.

In my house, family meals are the everyday norm. Every night the five of us would all sit down together, finding a time that did not conflict with the various other activities of the evening. My sister and I rowed crew in high school, and practice did not end until 8pm. Nonetheless, at 9pm we would all sit down together. If we wanted to eat a meal out with friends on the weekend, it was still customary to sit down at the table and engage in conversation and possibly a “pre-meal” snack.

I even remember the importance of social eating in high school, when as soon as the schedules were released I would call my closest friends and ask them which lunch period they had received. Every day we would sit down at the same table, same seats, and debrief the morning classes.

As an upperclassman, I am struggling most with the fragmented eating patterns of my friends. We find it impossible to set a time to sit down and eat together, engaging in a needed break from the hustle of the day. One problem is our altering schedules—some of us eating late lunches and late dinners, others the opposite. With the loss of the meal plan, our habits have morphed into a “grab and go,” choosing to eat take out while catching up on reading or even while driving to theater rehearsal. Though we were all excited about using a kitchen at the start of the semester, I think I have seen the burner on the stove lit twice…. Once for tea.

There’s a reason we are not allowed to remove food from Frank, though this initially annoyed me after I was caught smuggling a zip lock of cereal to last through the week. Frank promoted a culture of sitting and eating amongst friends, an aspect of my first two years I miss the most. Frank was a sea of familiar faces all partaking in the exact same activity- eating. For the most part, we were only eating, as textbooks and other distractions rarely made their way into Frank apart from early morning cramming sessions. The lifestyle I am currently engaging in makes me feel disconnected and even Mintz comments that eating alone is “barbaric.” Reflecting on my unhappiness, I brought up the issue among my friends. We are going to make a conscious effort to sit down together over a home cooked meal once a week (it’s a start!) I will keep you updated on our progress.