Ah this brings me back. Growing up, our family would always eat breakfast together before going to work/school. Dinner would be the same. Sometimes when my parents had to work overtime, I still eat dinner with my siblings. So eating has almost always been a group thing for me.
As I started working though, there have been a lot of times where I eat alone. When I was in a 24/7 shifting schedule, there are a lot of times where there are only 2 of us in a shift so one of us would eat while the other monitored things. Eating alone isn't a bad experience. I just wallow in my thoughts, maybe look at stuff on my phone, and appreciate the food. But I do think eating with my family will always be better.
Life gets busy, I get it, but I also think that's one of the reasons people should be trying to prioritise mealtime as a focus for them to connect even if it's not possible every day. We used to go to my grandma's house every Sunday for lunch or dinner, it was only once a week but it was a really nice time (she was an awesome cook) and that one day a week is something I remember even after all these years.
I also think people should be finding time to leave their phone in another room, even when eating alone. There is nothing that important it can't wait 30 minutes and a person also needs a break from the continual bombardment of propaganda the phone (social media) delivers. Just my opinion, you're welcome to disagree...billions probably do. I just find there's more engaging things than staring at a phone screen all the time.
Yeah, grandmas are the best. Their food are always better than what you can get in restaurants. I still haven't found anything close to my grandma's oxtail and tripe stew.
In a restaurant, eating alone, I wonder what engaging things there are to do?
Read a book, you might actually learn something valid.
Ah then it's a matter of apples and oranges. I don't view much social media. Bringing a book can be cumbersome. Just have a digital copy of it.