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