Sit Down to Eat

I was 16 working at Love Lane Tuxedos, measuring guys for tuxes, receiving back their suits after the events, going through the pockets for… (Note: check your pockets! You’d be surprised what is forgotten, and kept by the lucky employee after no one calls back.) We were eating our lunch in the backroom, standing up, of course. I remember vividly, the woman owner coming in and chastising us: “Sit down to eat! You should never eat standing up.”

I wondered if that was true, and if so, why. She never gave a reason.

Many of my meals over the years have been eaten in haste. After all, I was one of seven children, and not the biggest, sitting at one table. If you hoped to get seconds you moved quickly on firsts. (Although my brother did often hand me his vegetables in a napkin under the table saying I’d get a dime if I ate them.)

Most of my life I remember running — to catch the school bus, to get to class, to the cafeteria, to work, back home. At meal times, food was inhaled. What teenager eats slow? Working in bread distribution for 30 years not much changed. Whether on a delivery truck early in the morning, rushing to service all your stores before receiving hours ended, or as a manager driving a state away to check on stores in a part of my territory, food was consumed on the run.

I share all that to contrast my experience on a recent sabbatical. My wife and I had already been practicing eating slower: chew each mouthful 20 times; put down your fork in between bites, and yes — sit down. But our slow travel around the country accentuated the experience. FYI — there are biological reasons to do this: chewing thoroughly, combined with the amylase in your saliva, does much to initially break down your food. The digestive juices in your stomach lining and intestines function better when your body is in a parasympathetic (resting) state, etc. However, it was the pleasure of the experience that became my driving factor in change.

My son-in-law shared with me recently (and I haven’t verified this on Google), that there is an amazing chef who people are flocking to. The price of the meal is exorbitant, and he has very strict rules for eating: every bite must be chewed 50 times. According to my son-in-law, people are sharing that the experience of the meal is similar to getting high. I can believe it.

My experience is not dissimilar. Making your way around the country with no agenda and no schedule, the present becomes prominent. Life is now. You see the varied colors in clouds. You hear the distinctive songs of diverse birds. And eating…!

Have you noticed how many of your sense organs are within five inches of your mouth? All of them. Maybe that’s why kissing is all that it’s cracked up to be. I strongly grieved for people who lost their sense of smell (and their appetite) from COVID-19. What a gift to lose! But is it also a gift that many of us barely unwrap?

Try experiencing a bite of something for a full minute. Scent is engaged before food even touches the palate. Aromas activate the salivary glands in your mouth even before you sit to eat. (You are sitting, right?) Note the temperature, the texture, the resistance of the item to your teeth. The grinding releases flavor, temperature and feel, and your tongue is omnipresent in your mouth to capture sweetness, sharpness, richness concurrently. The distinct sensory areas of the tongue allow you to simultaneously experience complex, hopefully complimentary, sensations and flavors.

Have you read descriptions on wine bottles? “…complex flavors of black cherry, raspberry, blackberry, plum, and a touch of spice…” Or what about the body and mouthfeel of beers: “rich, full, slick, light, creamy, heavy, dry…” These are attributes your mouth discerns.

The point? Eating is not optional. It is mandatory for existing. And for most of us it is frequent. However, this simple, life-sustaining exercise is packed with pleasure and wonder, as tens of thousands of restaurants and cookbooks and food markets abundantly testify. So take the time to enjoy it. Food is a gift. As The Preacher says in the book of Ecclesiastes:

“I perceived… that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God’s gift to man.” — Ecclesiastes 3:12-13

Just make sure that when you do, you are sitting down.