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Name: Shared seating arrangements.

Look: Lengthy, awkward and back in fashion.

The Return of Communal Eating? Not Again. The Only Acceptable Place for Refectory Tables is the School Canteen

Who would voluntarily eat with strangers as an adult with free will? The younger generation, it seems. According to data from the restaurant reservations company Resy, "90% of gen Z diners say they like communal tables, compared with just 60% of boomers".

A Sign of the Times. Before You Start Harrumphing About the Youth of Today

Communal eating in nationalistic eateries was a major trend during the WWII, actually – there were about two thousand five hundred of them, supported by Winston Churchill.

I Suppose It Made Sense When Food Was Scarce, What's the Appeal Today?

It’s an alien concept for you, admittedly, but shared dining can be fun! As Pablo Rivero notes: "They naturally turn dinner into a shared experience," and "The excitement lies in not knowing your neighbor!"

The “Fun” of Having Dinner Interrupted by Someone Explaining Loudly About Their Therapy Says They’re “a Highly Sensitive Empath”

Or sitting beside a Hyrox bore eating chicken to fuel his "farmer’s carries"? Or a nano-influencer capturing you in the background in their video as they massacre a salad? You have to remember: young adults – the most online generation, who grew up during COVID, and many of whom entered an almost exclusively digital workplace – enjoy organized group events. It’s the same impulse driving the popularity of youth running groups, hiking outings and crafting nights: they’re craving offline social connection.

I’d Rather Eat in One of Those One-Person Ramen Booths They Have in Tokyo.

You might not fancy it, but many youths feel isolated (47% of them, as per an Oxfam study released this summer). A recent American study , one-third of men aged between 18 to 23 reported they had no contact outside their household in the past week. Isn't it positive they’re going out and sharing meals with new people?

I Suppose. Research Shows Those Dining in Groups Report Greater Happiness

Conversing with new people is good for us, too: it gives us a greater sense of belonging. Additionally the Resy data points out another advantage: one in seven survey respondents said they’d landed a date at a shared meal event. Since young people are leaving dating apps, this gives them a shot at a unplanned "meat-cute".

That Joke Annoys Me Nearly as Much as I Hate Communal Tables.

My work here is done.

Do say: "Gen Z think communal dining ate and left no crumbs."

Inappropriate remark: "It’s all fun and games until someone drops a katsu prawn on your Y2K baggy jeans."