I think this particular joy of mine is probably unique to me (or to a very select few), but I have to admit it:
I love watching people eat.
Now, I don’t mean that I like watching people chew and slosh and slurp and swallow–I guess what I mean is that I love watching people EXPERIENCE eating, especially kids (since they mostly haven’t been tainted by the idea that food is “bad” or worthy of causing us enormous amounts of guilt). I love hearing people exclaim how delicious something is, I love watching ice cream dribble down a kid’s chin and watch them try to lick it off, and I love that shared look of delight between two people who are enjoying the same delicacy at the same time.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that I love watching someone really enjoy food, especially if I’m enjoying that same food at the same time. There’s just something about watching someone else enjoy something that increases my own enjoyment of it as well.
Perhaps that’s why eating is generally such a social affair?
In so many of my fitness magazines, I laugh when some celebrity or other says that she really believes in treating herself and in indulging in dessert every now and then. Of course, when I continue to read, “treating herself” means that she’ll eat 1500 calories that day instead of 1200 (and run 5 or 6 miles) and “indulging in dessert” means eating one ounce of dark chocolate.
(Seriously, I’m not kidding–I just read two such articles this very week.)
Note: if you are one of those disciplined people who can live your life that way, kudos to you.
But as for me and my house, we will indulge in REAL treats and not feel one bit guilty about it.
(I think I should point out that we don’t have sweets ALL the time–after all, if it was such a regular thing, it could hardly be called a “treat,” right? But I will freely admit that I have at least one sweet on most days, just so you don’t think I’m going all fitness-mag on you.)
Do you like watching people eat? Or do you absolutely despise it?
