> food and drink spare us from the burden of needing to have something to say throughout the whole conversation

It's usually the source of new topics when I'm at lunch. People inevitably order something different that looks good, or have a funny story they're reminded of when they see something.

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CompoundEyes 3 hours ago | parent [-]

Meals where the topic veers into food preferences and lengthy comparisons to other food that was eaten another time make me want to leave my body. But it’s such a common default in mixed groups.

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smcg 3 hours ago | parent [-]

what do you prefer to talk about?

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CompoundEyes 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

It’s a safe entry point, anyone can chime in and borders on phatic. I get it. But my preference is it triggers something quickly like a funny story as op said. Too often the ritual just gets stuck.

	▲	sublinear 2 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Yeah I was thinking along the lines of Seinfeld, but obviously it doesn't have to be that cheesy. That show just generally has a really good grasp of everyday idle chatter, and maybe even defined it culturally to some extent. e.g. Oh you got the big salad? I had a friend once who asked for a big salad. I paid for it, but my girlfriend took credit when she handed her the bag! The audacity!

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bluefirebrand an hour ago | parent | prev [-]

Personally? Almost literally anything but food

I've always been a picky eater and it's been a source of a lot of embarrassing situations for me in my life. Now I'm celiac too, and many people still kind of roll their eyes when I say I have to be gluten free. Talking about food with people I don't know well makes me uncomfortable as hell.

To the point raised in another conment: it doesn't feel like a safe easy topic for me because in my life it often hasn't been