Eat. home-made salad in chain eaterie.
We took the train out to Brum today to do so shopping. Horrible horrible weather! Saw N____ on the way and tried to make conversation with him. Not always easy. He probably thinks I have been ignoring him since I’ve come back from Prague. Probably doesn’t know I’ve been ignoring most people. He seems to have come over a little bitter again, but he was as chatty as he gets.
Anyway, it being horrible outside I couldn’t just grab my lunch - a home-made salad rustled up before we took the train in - as I usually would outside somewhere. We went to Eat., around the corner from Selfridges, which my brother informs me, incidentally, when I texted him to tell him one of our students, one of the best high wire artists we’ve had, had been seen climbing up the outside of it, was designed by the Czech architect that has now designed the Octopus, a radical design for a new library in the otherwise conservative city. Anyway, I said I would ask if I could eat my own food there, since I had food intolerances and was buying food for my girlfriend and both of us were having drinks, and eventually, on finding one of the staff who wasn’t rushing around, I did so. He thoughts for a second and said, ok, so long as I didn’t make it too obvious.
Ok, so this may not be any great epiphany for many who would no doubt routinely ask, but many people might not think to do so, and I am perhaps not always up for asking such things, and I was quite impressed by the way it was handled by the guy behind the till, who didn’t ask anything else and quickly aquiesced though he hadn’t heard of the food intolerances I mentioned.
I sat there eating, and enjoying my quinoa salad, and wasn’t remotely selfconscious despite the pair of us speaking Czech and the probability that people were looking over thinking that we were thrifty Poles.
I had a couple of reveries of persuading staff at various establishments that I should be able to eat, or helping out others who happen to be asking the same question. Pointing out that with my drink I would be taking up a place anyway, and that I cannot eat the food they sell, and would be happy to do so would they only introduce a range, pointing out that the food is home made, and not branded, and offering to put a token amount in a charity tin, which might be similar to their mark-up on food.
In any case, it was far more pleasant than hiding away somewhere in the Bull Ring with people rushing all around and eating it off my knees.
I would encourage anybody with food intolerances to try this. It is an entirely reasonable request if you are having a drink or with others who are eating, and it raises consciousness of the issue, and points out a vacuum in the market companies should be only too glad to fill.
