Waffle Fridays

I work at a very progressive company who really focuses on employee satisfaction and office culture.  It’s a tech firm, so it’s full of smart, funky, and diverse people.  One of the many perks that they offer, is Waffle Fridays.  The Talent & Culture team sets out in our kitchen (that is also stocked with free snacks, free soda, and free beer) waffle irons, batter, chocolate chips, sprinkles, and other fixings for the perfect waffle experience.  I love this, for obvious reasons, but I like the ritual of it.  People come up from the third floor (waffles are on the fifth) and sit in the cafe-style kitchen and they chat, have their waffles and coffee, and converse.  This illustrates another reason why I love food – it brings people together.  You can have a group of people who don’t speak the same language

but get them at a table where good food is being served, and all of a sudden the language of delicousness and camaraderie has overtaken the table.  There’s a reason why business dinners and happy hours, and dinner dates are a thing.  Food immediately gives us some common ground.