Have you heard about “Swedengate” yet? The term’s been trending online after someone claimed Swedes don’t share food with houseguests, especially their KID’S FRIENDS who happen to be there for dinner. And people are OUTRAGED.
Basically, the claim is that if your kid is at a friend’s house at dinnertime, the family will all eat together . . . but your kid has to go do something else, or wait in another room. So is it really true? The answer appears to be . . . YES. Or at least somewhat true.
A Swedish woman who lives in the U.K. did an article about it, and says it WAS the norm when she was a kid. But it’s not because Swedes are cheap. It’s a cultural thing.
Sitting down for dinner with your family is still big in Sweden, and was even bigger 20 or 30 years ago when you’d NEVER skip it. So if you fed someone else’s kid without asking, you might be stepping on THEIR dinner plans, which was considered rude.
She talked to a cousin who still lives there, and they said it’s NOT really a thing anymore. Also, even in the past, it only applied when plans weren’t made. So if it was a pre-planned sleepover or something, they WOULD feed your kids.
It went viral after someone posted a map of the countries in Europe where you’re most and least likely to be offered food at someone’s house. Finland, Norway, Iceland, Denmark, and parts of Germany were also listed as “very unlikely” to feed you.
It sounds like that’s not totally based in fiction. But as usual with “internet outrage,” it’s probably a bit overblown.
(Independent / NY Post)
(Here’s the map.)
Comments