Dining Across the Divide: “He said he was vegan; my heart sank’ | Life and style

deleciousfood | February 29, 2024 | Vegan | No Comments

Richard, 68, Gloucestershire

Occupation Retired Presentation Coach

Voting file Mostly conservative. Also Lib Dem and the Monster Raving Loony party when their local chairman needed a ‘kick up the bum’.

Amuse bouche Four of her five children are 26 (“I have a daughter and boy-girl twins, then I divorced and remarried a woman with boy-girl twins the same age”)

Will, 31, Oxford

Occupation Occupational therapist in a forensic mental health center

Voting file Green and tactically Labor

Amuse bouche Five years ago, he quit his job and moved to Spain, Mexico, Cuba, Colombia, Peru and Argentina. His Spanish is good, his accent a little chaotic

To start

Richard The restaurant had beautiful views of the river, although there was a couple on a park bench who were practically having sex.

Will Upon arrival I was sent to a room which turned out to be a wedding reception. So I ruined a marriage on the way to an argument.

Richard Will said he was vegan; my heart sank. But he didn’t try to force it on me and we ended up having the same dessert. I had a salmon starter and a roast pheasant.

Will I had chard potato gratin, then crispy spinach falafel. Dessert was caramelized pineapple with coconut mousse.

The big beef

Richard I voted to Leave and my wife voted to Leave, so we canceled each other out. Will has spoken exclusively about how Brexit has affected him; he has a Spanish girlfriend and he is upset that he has to marry her if he wants her to come live with him.

Will The reason my partner can’t live with me is because UK law states she should earn more than £38,000 a year. So I will probably leave the country and the NHS will lose another worker.

Richard He told me about something I had never heard of: Brexit would lead to a shortage of scientific research due to difficulties in obtaining work permits. I haven’t found any evidence of what happened. My stepson works for a scientific research company in London and it appears to be a United Nations agency!

Will He thought about it from the perspective of his peers, like his stay friend who responded to Brexit by buying a house in France – but perhaps if he sought opinions outside his own cohort and slice of society age, he would see how many opportunities present themselves. been taken from young people.

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Plate to share

Richard Will is having trouble paying his rent. When I left home, my father said to me: “You should pay in monthly rent what you earn per week. » Of course, it’s different now. I own a property that I rent out and the return on investment is better than having money in the bank, but only just.

Will I spend a third of my salary on my rent. There is a major staff shortage where I work and many of my friends can no longer afford to live here.

Richard I know that steps are being taken to streamline the planning process. This will speed up the construction of houses, but could also lead to the creation of ugly houses.

Will This seems like a low priority for people who have nowhere to live. I don’t care if a house is ugly, I care if it’s safe.

For after

Richard Rwandan policy seems clumsy to me, but I firmly believe that it is dissuasive. A Central African migrant who wants to pay human traffickers to cross the Channel will be discouraged if he simply has to be sent back to where he came from.

Will That hasn’t deterred anyone so far, has it? I was mentoring a young refugee who was a victim of human trafficking, and all he wanted to do was work and he wasn’t allowed to. We agreed that if people want to contribute to the economy, why would we want to end it? Foreign workers not being able to bring their families to the UK is simply absurd.

Takeaways

Richard I loved him and sympathized with the things he struggles with. I felt like our differences didn’t matter. We talked and ate for two and a quarter hours.

Will I thought he was adorable and willing to listen. I know the idea is to eat across divisions, but we don’t need to focus on what divides us. I think we have a lot more in common with each other than we think.

Additional reporting: Kitty Drake

Richard and Will ate at Cherwell Boathouse in Oxford

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