It was actually really confusing to me when I started to hang out on English language CS spaces that the rest of the world is not like that. I thought this just comes with the prevalence of open source but apparently not.
Looking at the recent post about small shops on English high streets, it seems like the only thing people on here hate more than poor people is children.
I love hobbies where you create something. Sewing, leatherworking, woodworking, stuff like that. You can also take this and add more hobbies on top. Embroidery, leather or wood carving for example. Those hobbies are at there core very utilitarian (you get exactly what you want to have. The exact wallet or shirt or chair or whatever) but they allow for artistic freedom and expression as well.
I personally prefer to go as hand tools as possible. I don’t like loud noises. A sewing machine is the most I want to deal with. There is no noise in leather crafting that doesn’t come from straight up elbow grease. I’d not enjoy woodworking with power tools all weekend (which is why I haven’t picked that up yet. I haven’t figured out what I can expect to get done wir hand tools).
There are more hobbies than that of course. More garment / fiber stuff like weaving, knitting or crochet, making jewelry, welding, black smithing all with various degrees of resources required to get started. Another benefit as a man is that most of the time our trends are much more minimalist so you generally get away with larger and simpler items in those women dominated hobbies like sewing (except formal wear. Suits can fuck right off) so it’s not actually that hard to start one of those hobbies very casually and just end up with something you can use for the next decade and be fine. Like, rings, wallets, shirts, pants, sweaters are probably all gonna be text book „how to make an x“ without much details and be in fashion for the next 20 years.
It’s violent because it used to be reality. Modern workers have the benefits they have (although they are getting less and less every year) because the only option for the working class was to break into the factory owners house and beat them to death. If the factory owners want to get back to that, that’s fine with me. We could have had another couple hundred years of 1 1/2 full time jobs per family, a house that you can afford in an area you like, a few weeks of vacation and health care that makes you feel like this is not something you need to worry about much. But nope. They didn’t want that and it’s gonna be really exciting (in a bad way) when 2/3 of the office workers get replaced by AI and pull down the wages of tradesmen in a desperate attempt to find employment.
In Düsseldorf that’s not the case. The Japanese restaurant are very distinctly less chill than other restaurants. Like, where you’d usually spend 3 hours in a normal restaurant, it is kinda expected that you eat and leave a Ramen shop within an hour.
Personally, its my Japanese Pizza. Both ramen and pizza have historical roots as affordable, filling meals for the working class and poor communities.
If you avoid the pork, it becomes less fast-food-ish.
I’m guessing back in the late sixties to early seventies going to McDonalds could have been a special night out and it could have been a place people stayed an hour. Some people may still linger in a McDonalds for an hour but I’d have think that’d be an exception. They’re loud, crowded and the seats are not entirely made for comfort. It’s not a place that strikes the imagination with, oh, there’s a place we can go eat and relax at.
I know this is the American in me but: what the heck do you do for 3 hours? Especially at a place that doesn’t serve 5 courses. If you’re hanging with old friends, maybe, but even then the conversation can slow down after a while.
I don’t know how restaurants work in America but generally you go to a restaurant to hang out here as well. I think service is generally slower. Drinks are also not free refills so a lot of restaurants do get fancy with their drinks so you try those as well. We usually also get at least desert and a coffee. Three hours is maybe not the norm but most restaurants plan in 2.5 hours slots.
Like, it’s not just eating. It’s socializing as well. You use the restaurant as a place for conversation.
If the average American fast food place here is reflective of the average American restaurant experience, I think that’s a big difference. Even the most run down gyros or kebab place that also sells burgers and pizza will have tables outside on the street with ash trays and will sell you a cold drink. But even five guys, which is a lot more expensive than those places, has lighting that is more suitable for surgery than chatting.
If you go to places like France, people will get an espresso and a little thing of olives and just sit there smoking and people watching. Alone. That’s maybe a bit much for me but a 2 to 3 hour dinner with friends seems very normal for me.
Oh and now I have a kid so a lot of times the waiters will play with the kid or the environment is suitable for the kid to just play alone and then it’s a good opportunity to just have a cold drink or a coffee with the my wife in peace after a meal so even with only my family we’d do 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
The fast food experience is a far end of the experience even for the US. I've experienced long meals here in the US too. They are much less systemic than what I experienced and observed in the UK, France, and, Italy. I've had the fast food experience in the UK too; e.g. sausage rolls at Gregg's.
Looking at the recent post about small shops on English high streets, it seems like the only thing people on here hate more than poor people is children.
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