People You Meet At A Buffet - Part 1

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If you are like me, you like to people watch.  Which of course means that you naturally tend to frequent places that have lots of people.  Malls, stores, restaurants, all are great for watching people  - and making up their back stories in your head (it’s good exercise for the brain).

Personally, my favorite place to watch people are places where there is food, food courts, fast food restaurants, fine dining establishments.  All of these are great.  But the best place are buffets.  Buffets are great because not only are you observing people, but you are observing people with food, and you are observing people interacting with other people who are interacting with food.  Naturally, in such settings, certain types of people tend to stand out, mostly set apart my their behavior patterns.  This is especially so when you combine people with food that they have direct access to.

The Big (And Little) Four

When you go to any buffet, you will generally tend to see four general categories of people.  Granted you will see others, but a lot of these people fall into sub categories of these four main groups (many of which will be covered in future posts).

The Little Little Eater

The little little eater is pretty much what it sounds like: a small-sized person who does not eat much at the buffet.  You will often see these people with a minimum of food on their plates for whatever reason (and those reasons are quite numerous).  Little little eaters tend to follow the stereotypes that most people make about such people.

Examples of Little Little Eaters

• Thin People
• Children (especially fussy children)

The Little Big Eater

The little big eater is deceptive.  In observation, they appear to be like little little eaters.  That is, they appear that way until you see them actually at the buffet itself.  That’s when you realize they are far from the stereotype that little little eaters fall into.  This is especially so after you see them go up for the fifth time, piling on heaping portions of chicken, mashed potatoes, bread, a slice (or two) of ham, and two slices of pizza.

Just as children can fall into the little little category, they also fall into the little big category.  Sometimes it is amazing watching how some of these pint sized wonders manage to pack in the food without any ill effect.  At least, none that we see at the buffet… hopefully.

One particularly famous little big eater is Wally West/The Flash.  At one time, due to the nature of his speed powers, Wally used to consume gigantic quantities of food because his super speed burned off a gigantic amount of calories

The Big Little Eater

If the little big eater flies against the stereotype of what people think about thin people and children, then the big little eater goes against the stereotype of big people.  The big little eater is a larger sized person who does not eat much at the buffet.  This, naturally, goes against every prejudice that people have about big people, who will often (either knowingly or unknowingly) assume that at some point, the big little eater will eventually reveal themselves to be a big big eater (described later).

The Big Big Eater

At the far end of the scale, far opposite the little little eater, is the big big eater.  This is the stereotype of the big person confirmed, and what many people who see a big little eater will assume they will become.

Famous Big Big Eaters

• Jabba The Hutt
• The Sarlacc
• Gulliver (when he was in Lilliput – the scales are subjective)
• The Blob (the movie monster, not the comic character)

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