Thinking Out Loud, Volume CDXVII

Our bodies like it when we socialize with other humans. Think about it. We rarely socialize without giving our bodies something they crave. For me, it's usually coffee or a meal. For others it may be alcoholic beverages or a smoke. And for many of us, it also works in reverse. My job requires that I spend a lot of time on the road and in hotels, and as a result, I have become accustomed to eating or having coffee alone, but it hasn't always been that way. I can still remember going to a restaurant alone for the first time. Before I started college,I decided to get a part-time job, and I had to start work a few weeks before the beginning of school. I had relatives who lived in the same city as the college, and I stayed with them until school started when I could move into the dorm. One day they were all out of town, and I found myself having to go to dinner alone, and it occurred to me that I had never done that before. I recall having a such a knot in my throat it was difficult to eat, simply because I was eating alone in a restaurant. It's true that Starbucks has good coffee, and I'm sure that's the primary reason they have so many locations, but I also believe their tremendous growth has to do with the fact that they offer patrons a place to socialize while consuming their product. There's just something about eating and drinking that makes us want company while we're doing it; and there's something about visiting friends and relatives that makes us want to eat and drink. When our kids were still at home, we made sure we had a designated family meal time, where we could all sit at the table together and discuss the day's events over dinner, and Angie and I still do that, even though it is now just the two of us. Even at Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter, etc., all our family activities revolve around a meal. As I travel around my territory, primarily Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Texas, I usually have breakfast in the same places each time I visit an area, and almost every place I go will have a group of guys who are in there for coffee every single day. I dare say that if it wasn't for the coffee, they wouldn't be there, but they wouldn't be out drinking coffee if it wasn't for the guys. For every big celebration, there's a big meal, and that activity can be traced well back into our history. When the Prodigal Son returned home, the fatted calf was killed for the big celebration. When Angie and I got married more than forty-one years ago, on the night before the wedding, we had a big rehearsal dinner....because that's the way it had been done down through the generations. They still do that today. Why do we have to eat or drink when we socialize? I'm sure there are as many opinions on that topic as there are readers of this blog. Maybe we can get together and discuss it sometime. Over coffee, maybe? Preston