To ask if anyone else prefer eating their evening meal on a tray?

[FredSoftly]

I have friends who insist that every meal is eaten en famille at the table so everyone can "talk about their day." Then they complain that it's often tense or their teens are moody and uncommunicative.

When I suggest tea on a tray, they gasp in horror!

We often do this in front of the TV and it can make for a nice relaxed evening. We also manage to chat a lot without facing each other across the kitchen table on a nightly basis.

Am I common?

But eating every meal at a table smacks of unwoke, right-wing white privilege.
Could you explain what you mean by that please? What percentage of my meals need to be eaten on a tray for me to be considered woke and left wing?

Can't do much about the white privilege I am afraid as I am white.

Can we nominate an individual —batshit— post for classics?

We should be able to. It is hands down the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever read on here (and that is a high bar, let me tell you 😆)

How do you not make a huge mess of your sofas?

Much in the same way we don't make a big mess of the table when we sit there, I imagine. By eating like normal humans with cutlery and everything.

[quote unmarkedbythat]@1940s I think you're confusing bitterness with contempt.[/quote]
Multiple replies to me makes me know otherwise

I’m only really here for THAT quote, but the pointless judgement and stupid extrapolation on this thread is something else. Even by MN’s high standards in this area.

People do things differently. That’s okay. There is really no need to be a judgemental twat about it.

Much in the same way we don't make a big mess of the table when we sit there, I imagine. By eating like normal humans with cutlery and everything.

Oh I don’t know. Trying to balance the plate, also drinks, cutlery and glasses, trying to cut food on a precariously wobbly tray while the dogs are watching the whole performance ready to share my food is all a bit too much.
Also, red wine spilled on sofa makes me want to cry. And where do you put your salad plates?

If the dear Lord has given me a table then I shall well and truly use it.

No, I loathe eating from my lap. We sometimes eat at the dining room table and leave the TV on in the adjoining room so we can watch it but we never eat off our laps. Even if the kids eat in the playroom (a very rare treat) they use a table.

*Oh I don’t know. Trying to balance the plate, also drinks, cutlery and glasses, trying to cut food on a precariously wobbly tray while the dogs are watching the whole performance ready to share my food is all a bit too much.
Also, red wine spilled on sofa makes me want to cry. And where do you put your salad plates?

If the dear Lord has given me a table then I shall well and truly use it.*

I don't have any issues with balancing the plate.
Drinks go on the perfectly adequate coffee table.
I don't have dogs - if I did I'd put them in a different room while we ate.
I don't drink red wine.
I don't own a "salad plate" and couldn't even tell you what one was.

So it's all good.

@TheKeatingFive

I’m only really here for THAT quote, but the pointless judgement and stupid extrapolation on this thread is something else. Even by MN’s high standards in this area.

People do things differently. That’s okay. There is really no need to be a judgemental twat about it.

This!

@LouJ85

*Oh I don’t know. Trying to balance the plate, also drinks, cutlery and glasses, trying to cut food on a precariously wobbly tray while the dogs are watching the whole performance ready to share my food is all a bit too much. Also, red wine spilled on sofa makes me want to cry. And where do you put your salad plates?

If the dear Lord has given me a table then I shall well and truly use it.*

I don't have any issues with balancing the plate.
Drinks go on the perfectly adequate coffee table.
I don't have dogs - if I did I'd put them in a different room while we ate.
I don't drink red wine.
I don't own a "salad plate" and couldn't even tell you what one was.

So it's all good.

A salad plate is just a plate with salad on it!! I just put my salad on the same plate as my other food. Some people prefer it on a separate plate.

I can't eat in my lap. It's far too much hassle.

@GoodbyeH

Ahh well I don't eat salad so that explains why that's not an issue for me

Much in the same way we don't make a big mess of the table when we sit there, I imagine. By eating like normal humans with cutlery and everything.

You should see our table after a meal - plus the surrounding floor. The dining room floor is tiled so easy to clean. I'm not letting that shit onto the sofa and carpet in the front room. It is true that possibly we do not eat like normal humans.

@SnowyBranches

Much in the same way we don't make a big mess of the table when we sit there, I imagine. By eating like normal humans with cutlery and everything.

You should see our table after a meal - plus the surrounding floor. The dining room floor is tiled so easy to clean. I'm not letting that shit onto the sofa and carpet in the front room. It is true that possibly we do not eat like normal humans.

I'm talking about adults and teens. I don't have small children in my house, so I don't need to worry about the mess on the sofa.

eating every meal at a table smacks of unwoke, right-wing white privilege.
WTAF?! Utterly bizarre and nonsensical.

OP I agree with you, tray meals are nice and relaxed. Maybe it is common, I don't really care lol

@LalalalalalaLand123

Don't worry I'm common too apparently.
I'm still waiting for someone to have an opinion on my audacity to eat from my bed when pregnant and poorly. God help my unborn child and her common as muck mother 😂

I have a question for all the people who can’t eat off a tray- how do you sit on the sofa? I always sit with my legs crossed under me and a tray balances perfectly on top, but I’m wondering if the people who struggle have their legs straight out in front of then

I sit with one leg curled under me. This also makes a little table to balance the tray on.

@LouJ85

How do you not make a huge mess of your sofas?

Much in the same way we don't make a big mess of the table when we sit there, I imagine. By eating like normal humans with cutlery and everything.

I have young children so maybe there's the difference. But even so, we often have crumbs around, and I eat a lot of spiced food and would imagine that even if it is only every 15-20 meals that i drop something, there's a high likelihood of that food containing turmeric and staining.

Maybe I'm just really grotty?

On special occasions or when the DC are asleep and I'm having a late night munch, might have some crisps, sweets, popcorn or takeaway on the sofa. Otherwise we eat at the table, because I would rather contain the mess. We also don't eat in the bedrooms at all.

@riotlady

I have a question for all the people who can’t eat off a tray- how do you sit on the sofa? I always sit with my legs crossed under me and a tray balances perfectly on top, but I’m wondering if the people who struggle have their legs straight out in front of then

Cross-legged, too, but the only tray I own is a light, narrow one which would just about fit a cup of coffee and maybe a small sideplate -- what is surprising me about this thread is the number of people who own trays! I think of them as period pieces, like hostess trolleys!

I'm talking about adults and teens. I don't have small children in my house

So am I Well, a teen, a pre-teen and two adults. We are just pretty spilly, I suppose.

Always on our lap

@OverTheRubicon

My mum (neither white nor middle class) would have died of horror QA if we'd eaten her carefully cooked meals while watching TV, growing up I only learnt about TV dinners from reading Matilda, none of our other (also immigrant family) friends ate on the sofa either.

We eat all our meals at the table, but they aren't all big formal affairs, we don't always use cutlery when we make traditional dishes, or force debate, I thought it was standard. How do you not make a huge mess of your sofas?

That said, our children still have terrible manners in public often, so it's not like we have it sorted!

Ha I'm glad it's not just mine. We eat almost all of our evening meals at the table together, breakfast in the living room (my ds has a little table and chair - I'm not having that mess on my sofa!) as I'm way too tired to be sociable and eat at the table, lunches are usually at the table together too, so most of our meals are ar the table, no TV, family meals, but my ds is still often a pain in the arse at a restaurant lol

Now I feel common with my IKEA plastic numbers. @Tureen. I may upgrade to these for some class

I don't own a "salad plate" and couldn't even tell you what one was.

I would have thought that the words 'salad' and "plate* to be descriptive enough.