#92 Sending Back Food

(idea submitted by Jenny B.)

It is a well document cultural phenomenon that Jewish Young Adult exhibit a strong tendency to order “special” meals at restaurants; meaning they display a high proclivity toward augmenting or adjusting existing items on any given menu to suit their liking.  But there is also a secondary, more subtle, offshoot of this trend, whereby the JYA will simply send back food if they are not satisfied.

Whereas those JYAs who order “special” meals will tirelessly harass/irritate restaurant wait staff until they are satisfied, those JYAs who send back food simply cannot be bothered with arguing and appeasing until their meal is made to their liking, and instead prefer to quell potential altercations by disengaging entirely.

For example, JYA “Tessa” was recently disappointed with her Skim Extra Foam Caramel Macchiato at her local Starbucks on the Upper East Side.  After taking one sip of the beverage, Tessa cut in line, returned the frothy cup to the pimpled teen behind the counter and stated vehemently that she demanded her money back, citing that the coffee was “not hot enough”.  The teen immediately offered to brew Tessa another concoction, but Tessa refused, stating loudly “I don’t have time for your incompetence.  I’m a paralegal in Midtown and I have stuff to do”, and stormed out.

It is hotly debated if sending back food emerged as a cultural singularity before or after ordering “special” meals.  Current research suggests that sending back food predated ordering “special” meals, as the restaurant industry only became capable of making “special” meals in the late Seventies.  Therefore, sending back food is an idiosyncrasy for JYAs that they share both with Jewish Adults and even with Jewish Elders, and is sometimes even a comforting commonality.

It is important to note that if a Non Jew is ever in the presence of a JYA who sends back food, it is not recommended to offer some of your own, as this would only irritate the JYA even more.  Even though etiquette would hint at sharing your meal with the frustrated JYA, the Non Jew is advised to agree immediately with the JYA that the establishment does not deserve their money/time and suggest going to a different location.

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#91 Gchat

(idea submitted by Jen G.)

Jewish Young Adults of today love to be connected to each other, spending endless hours in communiqué about various topics, both banal and substantive.  In the recent decades, with the growth of the internet, communication has become more a matter of instant gratification than anything else, with the ability to stay in contact all across the globe, cheaply, efficiently, and in real time.  Considering this trend, one of the more preferred methods of communication for JYAs of today is Gchat.

The beauty of Gchat is that it is synchronous with the rest of the numerous obligations and interests of JYAs.  For the hard working I-Banking JYA, or the one who spends hours making Power Point presentations at McKinsey, Gchat has a wonderful application for Blackberry, where the JYA can keep up on the latest drama of who made out with who at the Bnei Jeshurun co-ed Touch Football game.

For the cubicle bound JYA, Gchat is conveniently not blocked from the company server, as it is embedded in Gmail, especially when coupled with Firefox, and therefore offers endless opportunities to be self-deprecatingly flirtatious with the new intern down the hall.

And for those who are unemployed or underemployed, Gchat serves as an excellent medium to complain about your un/underemployment while sending countless resumes over Gmail.

Additionally, Gchat offers JYAs another benefit as well in that they get to write about themselves non-stop throughout the day, playing into the JYA assumption that people always want to hear what they have to say.

Whatever the reason, Gchat has become the go-to method of interaction between JYAs, where they can kvetch, flirt, fight, and even fall in love.

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