"We are where we eat"

Recently on NPR I have heard this “commercial” “We are where we eat.” Commercial is in quotes because NPR doesn’t call it “commercial” like on other commercial radio/TV networks. NPR is a non-profit organization. And yes, I listen to public radio whose listeners are normally older (somewhat me), well educated (me), and more liberal (definitely me!). I’ll write about NPR another time but this time, this commercial keeps me pondering. I have to admit that I agree with it to some extents. I have heard “we are what we wear” or “clothes makes a man or a woman.” People wear clothes, shoes, hats, jewelries, hair, tattoos, piercings, or nothing at all partly to make themselves comfortable and partly to show off who they are. Some may want to show that they have a good (or bad) taste for style and fashion. Some want to tell the world that they have money or lots of money. Some just want to fool people of who they really are. Lots of pocket-pickers dress nicely and “practice” at upscale hotels or fancy restaurants. It’s an art to fool people with the look and appearance. That’s why we have the word “scam-artist,” think Howard Hughes or Leonardo DiCaprio in “Catch me if you can.” Anyways, we all know that we are totally not what we wear, but we still judge people through their outfits or appearance. I like to look at red carpet pictures and see who wears the best outfit. You will be surprised how few “stars” have a good taste for clothes. Maybe they don’t want to show off their good taste but their “weirdo-ness,” think Katie Perry. It’s also surprising how many has shown up on the red carpet in a dress that is similar to what someone else wore before. And the worst part is very next day, pictures of the two dresses put side by side for comparison will be on the cover of all the cheap magazines everywhere.

Now back to where we eat, can we make the same conclusions as what we wear? Where we eat definitely shows what tastes of food we have and how deep our pocket is. For example, most people are pizza lovers. Some get pizzas from a chain store like Pizza Hut or Papa John’s. Some go to a fancy Italian restaurant where a pizza costs twice as much. But a fancy pizza is freshly handmade from their kitchen with organic ingredients (maybe) baked in a traditional brick oven (so they claim) and can have seafood on it if specially ordered. Of course we have to pay more for all the artisan touch. I would go with either way, I make pizzas yourself. I don’t like to make pizzas from scratch because it takes so much time and efforts. I buy whole wheat doughs from the store and nonfat or lowfat cheeses. Tomato sauce and pepperoni’s are also store bought. I put together a pizza in five minutes, pop it in the oven and ten minutes later we have a steamy hot “homemade” pizza. It may not be cheaper than Papa John’s but a little healthier and more fulfilling because I made it. Similarly with clothes, wealthier people would show up at Papa John’s to have “a quick fix” of pizza. They don’t have to dress up to go to a nice restaurant. If they do want to go to a fancy place, they had better dress up because they know they may get a different quality service. Even though it’s not really what defines people, other people look at what you wear or where you eat to initially judge you. That’s why it is called “prejudice.” It brings me back to a beginning communication lesson which says prejudice is an unavoidable part of communication. You need an assumption or expectation to start a conversation or any kind of communication. You dress nicely walking into a fancy restaurant, see how you are treated. You dress nicely going to a rundown diner, I bet you will turn many heads and get some scans up and down. After all, we all know how prejudice works and it is not always right but we still can’t help ourselves from it.