Once, many years ago, my sister came upon me as I was preparing a dinner for myself. She saw me arrange all parts of the meal on different-sized (based on the importance of the meal's component) color-coordinated plates and saucers, decorate the food lovingly and position everything on the table in a convenient pattern.
"You know what I would like?" she said dreamily, staring at the food. "I'd really like to meet a guy who'd love me at least half as much as you love yourself."
The best way to find out how people feel about themselves is by observing what they eat when they are alone. Sometimes, you'd see a person prepare for themselves a meal that seems healthy and has all the right ingredients but is extremely joyless. "I take care of myself because I don't have a choice," this kind of a person seems to say with their drab food. "But I have no particular love for myself."
There are also people who use the meal they have alone as a chance to reveal those sides of their personality that they strive to keep secret from others. A permanent dieter who greets everybody daring to order a piece of cake in their presence with "You are not going to eat that, are you? Do you know how many calories that has??" often binges on cookies, candy and ice-cream in the privacy of their kitchen.
Of course, there are also those who eat canned beans straight out of a can or pizza out of a box while standing over the kitchen sink. That is the saddest case of not considering oneself even worthy of a plate or a place at the table. And please don't tell me that it's more convenient or faster to eat this way. If people came over to visit, no convenience in the world would have induced this same person to hand them a can and invite them to stand over the sink with it, right? If a person they are interested in romantically came over for the first time, even the biggest slob in the universe would probably find a plate for that pizza and offer a chair to the guest.
Oh, and my sister? She did meet that guy, and now he's making great meals for both of them.
There are also people who use the meal they have alone as a chance to reveal those sides of their personality that they strive to keep secret from others. A permanent dieter who greets everybody daring to order a piece of cake in their presence with "You are not going to eat that, are you? Do you know how many calories that has??" often binges on cookies, candy and ice-cream in the privacy of their kitchen.
Of course, there are also those who eat canned beans straight out of a can or pizza out of a box while standing over the kitchen sink. That is the saddest case of not considering oneself even worthy of a plate or a place at the table. And please don't tell me that it's more convenient or faster to eat this way. If people came over to visit, no convenience in the world would have induced this same person to hand them a can and invite them to stand over the sink with it, right? If a person they are interested in romantically came over for the first time, even the biggest slob in the universe would probably find a plate for that pizza and offer a chair to the guest.
Oh, and my sister? She did meet that guy, and now he's making great meals for both of them.
