I came across a commercial on YouTube I can’t stop thinking about. Like all ideas that keep returning, I finally thought I should take some time to ask myself, why? In the commercial, a young woman returns home from a day at the office. She enters her apartment building, and people pass her silently, heads down as they stare at their devices. Even the security guard is caught up in a virtual world. She enters the elevator with multiple people, and no one makes eye contact or greets each other even though they all live in the same building. The young woman looks around in the elevator, the loneliness apparent on her face. She makes it to her apartment and encounters her roommate working on two devices with headphones on.
In frustration, she drops her bags and makes a plan. With her roommate, they carry a table into the hallway, throw a tablecloth on it, set it with dishes, and bring food out. As their neighbors exit the elevator, they encounter the two women, who quickly invite them to eat. The neighbors carry out more tables, food, and suddenly everyone is introducing themselves, smiling, and chatting. Devices have disappeared. The commercial ends with a little girl crawling under the table and running to the end of the hallway to invite the lone elderly neighbor to join the group. He comes out with his offering of a bottle of wine and salami. The words “Nothing brings us together like eating together,” flashes across the screen.
The commercial is #EatTogether2017 which first aired the year Canada celebrated 150 years of their independence from Britain. It was meant to be a kickoff of their year of celebrations to bring the nation together. I didn’t know this when I first watched it. I just loved the simplicity of it. There are so many benefits for families that eat dinner together regularly. The American College of Pediatrics sites some of the long term benefits as decreased rates of obesity and usage of drugs, alcohol, and nicotine as well as decreased rates of depression and better grades.
If eating together has so many family benefits, what kind of benefits are there to eating together regularly with people in our community? I have had several conversations with people lately about how lonely they are. Moms are some of the loneliest people I know. Between my kids being in school and my work schedule as a nurse, I spend more time with my dog than anyone else. As winter sets in, I realize I may not see my neighbors for the next five months. What if they are not okay? What if I am not okay? Maybe starting small and inviting more people to eat with us it is the answer to our loneliness.
It’s worth a try, right?
