Can we all just eat our food instead of Instagramming it?
You might have seen a recent video on social media where a guy ruins his friends’ Instagram food pics by sticking his fork in just as they’re about to take the picture.
There’s a reason it’s gone viral and it’s because we are SO over this sort of thing.
Come on, you know what I’m talking about, we’ve all been there.
You’re having dinner, a sharing dish is plonked on the table, you pick up your fork… and then before you’re allowed to touch it, it has to be arranged just so, with the wine glass moved a fraction back, and the salt and pepper off to the side, and ‘could you just lean your chair back a bit so you’re not casting a shadow?’ and ‘I’ll just get another from a different angle’ and then it’s cold and all the joy of eating has been sucked out of the meal.
But these days even if you’re not eating with an Instagrammer, your dining experience is probably going to be affected by one, whether it’s a repetitive blinding flash that spoils the ambience of a low-lit restaurant, or someone elbowing you out the way to get a better snap of the chefs at work in the open kitchen.
Just the other week, my sister was out celebrating her birthday when another diner in the restaurant CLAMBERED ON TO A CHAIR to get the best angle for her food pic.
I’d say that this was peak food picture madness, but it’s not.
I’ve been in restaurants where I thought their lights were on the blink because they kept on going brighter and darker, it turned out they were just trying to adjust the lighting so the Instagrammers at another table could get a better picture.
If a rowdy drunken customer or a screaming child was interrupting other customers’ dinners, the restaurant staff would step in, but because restaurants know that social media can make the difference between them succeeding or failing, they turn a blind eye to this sort of thing.
More: Food
I’m not saying we have to ban food photos entirely, I’ll often take a quick pic of a plate to show to a friend, or to remind myself of a dish.
But I take the lead from one of my pals — a highly esteemed restaurant critic (and frankly if it’s good enough for her, it’s good enough for me) — and do it swiftly from where I’m sitting with no flash, no fuss and certainly no standing on any bloody chairs.
