There are few more effective ways to promote tolerance between suspicious neighbours than to force them to eat supper together.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
We kind of have an ingrained, parasitic society. We kind of think it's okay to eat your neighbor.
And if strangers come to supper they shall be served with more according as they have need.
What bothers me is that there is so much emphasis on food, rather than gathering and meeting - so that there is all this effort in creating the right food, whereas the food is only a small part of whether the encounter is successful or not.
Strange to see how a good dinner and feasting reconciles everybody.
Many people see the chance to eat something for nothing, without the need to cook or wash up, as the great consolation of going out to dinner. But they forget quite how difficult it is to talk to a stranger and eat at the same time.
When my husband is away and I'm by myself, my neighbours will insist I eat with them every single night because they see it as unhealthy to eat by yourself.
Tolerance it a tremendous virtue, but the immediate neighbors of tolerance are apathy and weakness.
Neighbors are competitors instead of partners, suspicious instead of trustful, indifferent instead of helpful, cold instead of loving, greedy instead of generous. We no longer consider ourselves living in neighborhoods, but only as living next to 'hoods.'
Customers are more friendly when they've had a meal.
How can you satisfy your hunger while your neighbor is spending the night hungry?