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Name: Communal seating arrangements.

Appearance: Lengthy, uncomfortable and making a comeback.

The Return of Communal Eating? Oh no. The Only Acceptable Place for Long Benches is the School Canteen

What kind of adult chooses to dine alongside strangers? Gen Z, apparently. According to data from the dining booking company Resy, "90% of young adult patrons say they enjoy shared seating, compared with just 60% of boomers".

I’ve Never Felt More Out of Touch. Before You Start Harrumphing Regarding Younger People

Group dining in patriotic “British Restaurants” 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 During Times of Rationing, What's the Appeal Today?

It’s an alien concept for you, I know, but shared dining can be enjoyable! As the Resy CEO notes: "They naturally turn dinner into a shared experience," and "You never know who you’ll be seated next to; that’s the fun of it!"

The Enjoyment From An Interrupted Meal by Someone Explaining Loudly That Their Therapist Says They’re “a Highly Sensitive Empath”

Or being squeezed next to a fitness enthusiast chomping chicken breasts to fuel his "workout routines"? Or a nano-influencer filming you accidentally of their reel as they massacre a salad? Consider this: gen Z – the most online generation, who grew up during COVID, and many of whom entered an almost exclusively digital workplace – love a structured communal activity. It’s the same impulse behind the rise of young people’s running clubs, group hikes and art nights: they’re craving offline social connection.

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

This may not appeal to you, but lots of young people are lonely (Nearly half of them, according to an Oxfam study released this summer). A recent American study a third of males aged between 18 and 23 reported they had no contact outside their household in the previous seven days. Isn’t it a good thing they’re going out and sharing meals with new people?

Perhaps. Research Shows People Who Eat Socially More Often Feel Happier

Talking to strangers is beneficial, too: it enhances our feeling of community. Plus the Resy survey highlights an additional benefit: 14% of survey respondents said they’d landed a date at a communal dining experience. Given gen Z have gone off the apps, this gives them a shot at a unplanned "meet-cute".

I Hate That Pun Almost as Much as I Dislike Shared Seating.

My work here is done.

Do say: "Young adults believe shared meals are a total success."

Inappropriate remark: "Things are fine until food spills on your vintage clothes."