Chit-Chat 101

I think they skipped a horseman, this must be a sign of the coming apocalypse.

Have you seen the commercials for Stouffer’s new website, During Dinner, in which kicky “Mom” Anne Callaway has coffee and “Mom” Talk with friends, deals with the Callaway Kids, and manages to host a rollicking conversation-filled dinner every night!

And wait, you can have all that Anne has, and more! There are tips for how to start conversations with your own family! You can even make a personalized placemat for each member of your brood, complete with puzzles, “story starters”, fun-facts, and jokes. It’s true!

Think about it, you don’t have to talk to little Joey about why he’s been biting kids at school, you can just do a word-find! And why have Molly’s grades been slipping? That’s not fun dinner fodder, let’s challenge our minds with fun-facts and trivia! Forget about trying to find out what’s really going on in your kids’ lives, use this time to train them how to live off cocktail party gibberish.

Thank you Stouffer’s, thank you for first giving us processed, frozen foods like Creamed Chipped Beef and Salisbury Steak that don’t require actual cooking. And now, thanks for giving us canned chit-chat that doesn’t require any real thought or connection with the people around us.

Like the Corner Bistro Grilled Chicken Panini, who needs the pressure of reality? Not only can we skip the experience of going to a corner bistro, we can skip the fuss of shopping, the mess of creating, the bother of freshness, the annoyance of nutrition, the niggly matter of flavor, and any potentially embarassing emotions that might ruin our well-constructed family dinner.