Tell Me How You Eat, I Tell You Who You Are

The first time I ate at an American restaurant was also the first day I landed on the American shores. In a twilight glow, the American people who were with me decided to dine at a nice restaurant on the river. Here, I had my first shock: after less than five minutes, the waiter brought us the menus. Interesting enough, I gave the word “quick” an optimistic meaning.

I could not read the menu because I didn’t know any English, and I was too tired to let my hosts translate the list for me. I ordered something I would enjoyed for sure: fish. Here I had my second shock: the food arrived on our table in ten or fifteen minutes. Uhmm, how in the kitchen did the chefs know I was starving? Was that a special care for a brand new immigrant?

With time, I understood that it was not a special treatment. The way American people eat at restaurants was another “American style”. Even when they are not in a hurry, Americans are always in run: they want to seat quickly, to be served carefully and fast, and to leave the restaurant as rapidly as possible. In Italy, the servers are neither quick nor full of care for their clients (perhaps because their customers do not leave them any tip). Consumers may spend an entire evening eating at a restaurant, enjoying their tasty food and their company, drinking a casareccio glass of wine.

Americans do not have time. At morning they bring their children to the day care, then they run to work. At night they come home exhausted. Their children are tired too. The entire family is hungry. Let’s go eat outside then… lo a glance at their checking account does not allow any extra expense! No all is lost: a handy credit card will solve the problem, but when a new bank statement nocks at their door, they realize they spent too much. Now they activate the machine: they will seek another job or a double shift to pay for their invoices. At night, they will be more exhausted, they will not have time to cook, they again will eat outside, and their credit cards will soar, again. It is an unchangeable spin. Working may be one of the main reasons Americans do not have enough time.

It took me almost five years to realize that my first dinner in America wasn’t a special welcome and that it wasn’t a special welcome at any other restaurant where I ate throughout these years. My first dinner was only another picture of the American style.

Americans try to get rid of everything as promptly as they can. This is true when they go to a restaurant, a concert, a circus show, a grocery store, a pizza shop and a bagel place, a wedding and a birthday. This is true for their holiday dinners and for their daily suppers.

The word “quick” became a synonym for discontent.