What do you suppose is the purpose of french fries?

They’re no burger, for sure—they’re not super full of protein and important stuff like that. They aren’t fruit or—really—vegetables. They’ve got too much oil and probably too much salt, they’re starchy and full of carbohydrates and all the other technical-sounding stuff you’re supposed to avoid.

The purpose of food in general is to give us energy and keep us alive, by giving us the healthy things our body needs to function. So, if they don’t do that, why in the world do they exist? Just to fill the empty space on your plate?

I like to think they’re ice breakers. They’re ellipses. They’re healthy for the soul.

It can be awkward eating with another person, especially if it’s someone you don’t know well or haven’t seen in a while. Conversation is slow, a bit awkward, perhaps off and on, and in general not going very well.

But sitting in front of you is a plate of french fries. Of course, you can’t leave until all your food is eaten, so you fill the silence with french fries. Unless you’re shoving them in your mouth ten at a time, it’ll take a while, and it gives you an excuse to sit there in the restaurant a little bit longer, keep talking, get into the conversation. It gives you the time you need to break that ice between the two of you.

The awkward lunch dates are the ones where there aren’t french fries to draw out the conversation. The two of you just sit down, eat your soup and sandwich, and leave. Short and awkward.

As much as they give cause to conversation, they also fill the gaps in conversation. When things grow quiet… french fries. Sitting alone, eating in silence… french fries.

They aren’t junk food. They’re a food that has purpose beyond sustenance of the body—they’re more sustenance of the soul, and of friendly conversation.