Cultural , Societal Norms of eating out

Thinking about the prevailing mood with regards to restaurants and food social norms , cultural ways of thinking

I worked at Red Lion in the 1970's ... Primarily meat and potatoes with broccoli as a side on plate , mostly for color

A Vegetarian comes in

This idea was not well received by me , other cooks , waiters and so on

The prevailing thoughts or Paradigm in the kitchen was..

Why are you here ?!?

The restaurant had vegetables ( broccoli and carrots ), rice, potatoes, did not have a special vegetarian meal on the menu

Myself and others working had many preconceived ideas of this person’s character .....

Don’t they know where they are ,, What we serve ,, ;( Are they lost ??? ...... Watch their friends eat

This was a time and place Colorado , Beef country

Then I worked in California , San Francisco Bay area 1990's

Vegetarians were more accepted , tolerated and even expected

Most restaurants have specific vegetarian menu’s available

Place , Time , Culture , Social awareness etc.

Now think about a Vegetarian restaurant :

Go in and want Meat... What is the attitude ? The cultural norm

Something to ponder

Our lives are intertwined with these ideas of what is Normal

We get caught up in them all the time ... How can we not