Sinking our Teeth In

I was out the other night when I had the misfortune of seeing two women share a crab cake. That's it. ONE crab cake. They each had one complimentary roll and precisely one half of a crab cake. At a respectable, high-end restaurant. At dinner time. Not as an appetizer, but as dinner.

Seriously.

I am certainly not against sharing, which can provide an opportunity to sample, to not have to commit to a single entree or appetizer. But of course sampling requires at least two dishes be ordered, which--coincidentally--my boyfriend and I did that night. We ordered a Caesar salad with grilled chicken and an order of sliders--3 3 oz. mini burgers, as explained by the bartender, the same amount of meat as in a regular burger, but easier to eat and easier to share. I started with the salad and he started with the sliders. When I had enough of the creamy, garlicky goodness and warm, juicy chicken, I passed on my plate to him, and we swapped. He finished the salad and I ate a slider and we switched plates again so he could eat the last slider and finish the fries. I sample like this with other people as well, people who enjoy actually eating when we eat out, ordering more than one menu item, as the Crab Cake Ladies did not.

Haven't they ever seen a single Hollywood heart throb talk about how attractive they find it to meet a woman who eats? Don't they have male friends who can coach them in these matters? Men think it's sexy when a woman bites into a burger. Beyond the potential licking of fingers that results from a good grease drip or the dribble of mayonnaise just below the lip, men--REAL men, anyway--like women who have a passion for life, for food, and enough self-confidence or self-abandon to actually eat.

But don't do it on any man's account, ladies. Do it for yourselves. When you go out, allow yourself a whole crab cake. It won't make you fat. But if you really feel your calorie counting doesn't allow such an indulgence, cut back elsewhere. Maybe reconsider that second high-calorie bluetini or other high priced, primary color cocktail. If it's a financial thing, 4 piece McDonald's McNuggets are on the $1 value menu and they're only one Weight Watchers point per nugget! But I suppose that, too, is against the point.

I want to live in a world where women don't ask for dressing on the side so they can dip the tines of their forks in and then stab a forkful of lettuce. I want to go to an annual faculty pizza lunch and not find one or two female faculty members forgoing a slice of pizza for a Lean Cuisine or a yogurt and a slice of deli turkey. I want for the Crab Cake Ladies to each order their own, or follow with dessert.

Come on, women! Waifs are so yesterday. Let's sink our teeth into... life.