Before there were napkins there were bibs. This is true from a historical perspective, the bib was ‘invented’ first, and it’s also true from a developmental perspective. As a child you didn’t gently fold a piece of cloth or paper and place it in your lap, your mother or father wrapped a bib around your neck and just let you eat.
They just let you eat.
Think about that for a second.
They never tried to get you to wipe your face, and you were happier because of it. They essentially just strapped you in and let you take yourself on a culinary voyage. Granted the meal may not have been gourmet, Vienna sausages and pureed vegetables, you enjoyed every second of it.
Then why do we use napkins as adults? We use them because we have been trained, conditioned, and reinforced to beleive that there is a right way to eat. We have been programmed to think about ‘how‘ we eat instead of ‘why.’ You can’t enjoy your food because there are too many things to think about. People don’t even like to eat in front of each other anymore, afraid they may be being watched. The fear of being judged for the way you are consuming food is constantly hanging in the air.
Napkins are SUCKING THE JOY OUT OF EATING!
Well, not napkins themselves, but everything they represent. You get the idea. I’m trying to be dramatic.
This is why I’m proposing that we forget about Napkins. That we forget about which fork goes on the inside and which goes on the outside. That we eat because it tastes good. That we start to enjoy our food again. I’m proposing that we return to the bib.
Think about every picture you ever seen of a child eating with a bib on. Can you think of one where that child looks unhappy? Now think about the people you saw last time you ate at a restaurant. Did you see any faces that looked this happy? Probably not. But I bet you saw a whole lot of napkins… I bet you probably even used one, didn’t you?
Maybe this is an attack against something bigger. Maybe I’m attacking social mores as a whole. Maybe this is one of those speeches about “not caring what other people think”, but I don’t think so. I think this is about realizing that we are living in a time where food tastes better than any other point in history and appreciating that privilege. Seriously. At no point in time has food been so abundant or delicious than now.
The transition back to bibs isn’t going to be easy. But the next time you sit down to eat a delicious meal consider how much better it would be if all you were thinking about was eating the food in front of you and nothing else. Not whether its going to get on your clothes or your face or hands, just the tasty morsels in front of you.
When you’re ready, why not try on a bib, see how it feels. It’s going to feel good. You might feel like you are doing something wrong, but ask yourself why it’s wrong if it feels soooo right.
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Matt
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