Have you eaten anything?

We are obsessed with food. I am. I like eating out and trying out different things at different places. In general, I think, all of us in India are. It is a common question to ask in India: “Have you eaten something?” or “What did you have for lunch?” This is asked to mere acquaintances too. We were discussing cultural differences today during a clinic on culture training and this topic came up. You know, how Americans don’t understand that it is to show concern about them. For them, it’s more like “None of your business”.

While we were discussing this, I remembered, one of my friend had this habit of calling early morning (early for me – they call it afternoon) and starting the conversation with “Have you had anything to eat?” Being a close ended question, it had two answers. If I answered “Yes”, inevitably the next question would be “What did you have?” If I had answered “No”, the following question would be “Have something. What will you have?” Uuurrrggghhhhh!!! And this happened for more than a month. I know, she meant well and cared… but I couldn’t take it any more. One day, I told her “Listen, I have been out of my home for the last six years (that time), and my mom doesn’t ask me if I have eaten or not. You know why? Because I am healthy; I take care of my body and I love eating” Fortunately, the questioning stopped. Later sometimes she would ask me impulsively “Have you eaten…. oops, sorry!” … and I would be like “It’s OK. You can ask another question… and for the records, I have eaten”.