As a neurodivergent person who objectively acts awkward in the eyes of everyone else and also has weird dietary preferences, communal kitchens are a no for me. I’d rather keep my food private and away from judgy eyes. Yeah you can say that the problem is a society that judges me for being different, but here’s the thing, everyone can know and even say it’s wrong but everyone will still do it. Questions like “what are you eating” or “why would you eat it like that” from even well intentioned people can really get on your nerves when everyone can’t help but give you their two cents.
Realistically though, I’d still support communal kitchens as a concept because I know I’m the minority, and I still appreciate the efficiency of getting the most use possible out of expensive appliances. I don’t make very complex meals and can more or less afford to just use the afromentioned hot plate all the time.
Also with the clothes thing, I really don’t understand why people have a problem with someone wearing the same clothes multiple days at a time. Or even switching between two sets of clothes, the Western concept that you can only wear fully washed clothes is also pretty dumb. That way you don’t have to share and you don’t need to own a lot of clothes. Especially if you work remotely, why do you need a visually different outfit every single day?
Well with a communal kitchen it doesnt mean your all eating the same things. It would probably be cafeteria style where you could pick out the things you do eat, and since your part of the community theyd make sure to have options that meet your needs. Then if you don’t want to eat with others you can just take your food somewhere private. It would function more like a resturant or cafeteria then a kitchen in a home does.
As for the clothes ya i agree. In fact not washing clothes too often can extend their lifetime. You could come get your outfits and keep them with you then when theyre dirty enough you need fresh ones just go trade them out for some fresh and identical ones from the pool. And theyll wash and repair the ones you brought back.
Also i do want to point out that if you have trouble socializing with neurotypical people theres no reason you can’t have shared meals with other neurodiverse people. It might be easier for you that way. Still optional tho in a setup like the one above.
It would probably be cafeteria style where you could pick out the things you do eat
I think I might also be misunderstanding what communal kitchens are? I assumed it was literally just a place with a bunch of stoves side by side and everyone cooked their own food. Is it more like what they have in university dorms that don’t have in room kitchens?
I depends but for larger groups of people you’d likely have something very similar to a university dorm cafeteria ya. Like a dedicated team of cooks who prepare the food, and you come pick out what you want. You could even have them deliver meals to people who are sick and stuff. Since it would all be within easy walking distance of your sleeping area in a commune like setup.
Think like big commercial kitchen that makes tons of food, at set times of day (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner) and people come by and pick up what they want, and can choose to eat there at some tables with others, or bring the food back to their room, or anywhere else really.
Since its a community and youd all know eachother well you could also work around dietary restrictions. Like if you know you’ve got 50 people to feed, and 15 are vegan you can prepare the right amount of food options for the vegan group so its there for them when they come.
You could potentially even have a local network setup where you can go on there and have a few options to select what you want to eat that day and it gets sent to the kitchen, and they know what each person is going to pick so they can have it all ready in the right amounts.
As a neurodivergent person who objectively acts awkward in the eyes of everyone else and also has weird dietary preferences, communal kitchens are a no for me. I’d rather keep my food private and away from judgy eyes. Yeah you can say that the problem is a society that judges me for being different, but here’s the thing, everyone can know and even say it’s wrong but everyone will still do it. Questions like “what are you eating” or “why would you eat it like that” from even well intentioned people can really get on your nerves when everyone can’t help but give you their two cents.
Realistically though, I’d still support communal kitchens as a concept because I know I’m the minority, and I still appreciate the efficiency of getting the most use possible out of expensive appliances. I don’t make very complex meals and can more or less afford to just use the afromentioned hot plate all the time.
Also with the clothes thing, I really don’t understand why people have a problem with someone wearing the same clothes multiple days at a time. Or even switching between two sets of clothes, the Western concept that you can only wear fully washed clothes is also pretty dumb. That way you don’t have to share and you don’t need to own a lot of clothes. Especially if you work remotely, why do you need a visually different outfit every single day?
Well with a communal kitchen it doesnt mean your all eating the same things. It would probably be cafeteria style where you could pick out the things you do eat, and since your part of the community theyd make sure to have options that meet your needs. Then if you don’t want to eat with others you can just take your food somewhere private. It would function more like a resturant or cafeteria then a kitchen in a home does.
As for the clothes ya i agree. In fact not washing clothes too often can extend their lifetime. You could come get your outfits and keep them with you then when theyre dirty enough you need fresh ones just go trade them out for some fresh and identical ones from the pool. And theyll wash and repair the ones you brought back.
Also i do want to point out that if you have trouble socializing with neurotypical people theres no reason you can’t have shared meals with other neurodiverse people. It might be easier for you that way. Still optional tho in a setup like the one above.
I think I might also be misunderstanding what communal kitchens are? I assumed it was literally just a place with a bunch of stoves side by side and everyone cooked their own food. Is it more like what they have in university dorms that don’t have in room kitchens?
I depends but for larger groups of people you’d likely have something very similar to a university dorm cafeteria ya. Like a dedicated team of cooks who prepare the food, and you come pick out what you want. You could even have them deliver meals to people who are sick and stuff. Since it would all be within easy walking distance of your sleeping area in a commune like setup.
Think like big commercial kitchen that makes tons of food, at set times of day (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner) and people come by and pick up what they want, and can choose to eat there at some tables with others, or bring the food back to their room, or anywhere else really.
Since its a community and youd all know eachother well you could also work around dietary restrictions. Like if you know you’ve got 50 people to feed, and 15 are vegan you can prepare the right amount of food options for the vegan group so its there for them when they come.
You could potentially even have a local network setup where you can go on there and have a few options to select what you want to eat that day and it gets sent to the kitchen, and they know what each person is going to pick so they can have it all ready in the right amounts.