Most of us can agree that small businesses and restaurants need our support now more than ever. But we live in the weird age of social media, and people on social media can be pretty ruthless.
Fork Reporter Neil Saavedra joined us today to discuss a recent article in Eater titled "People Are Dining Out, They Just Don't Want Anyone To Know About It." In it, writer Jaya Saxena talks about going out to eat with her partner, and though they had masks and were socially distant, felt a kind of return to normalcy. As they meal went on, she felt like she was doing something sneaky.
She wouldn't dare post pictures of her dining experience on Instagram! She writes:
"No matter how diligent I was about pulling up my mask when the waiter came, or how carefully we we repositioned our chairs so our backs were to other diners, all at least 10 feet away, or how well we tipped, we were still eating out during a pandemic. These days, that’s a shamable offense. That said, restaurants and bars are struggling, and with a total lack of federal support, their only option is to fill seats, and use social media to do so. Were we so wrong to dine out? Should we have buried our guilt and shared our plates on Instagram stories to support our local restaurant?"
Is this what we've come to now? Even after following all of the health and safety protocols, we're still afraid of being called out by shamers online? The world is such a strange place right now. Between the shame of being seen dining out and the Travis Scott meal at McDonald's, we had a lot to unpack with Neil today.
Check out today's #TastyTuesday segment below!
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