Dissection of a Typical Hangout

Photo: Darshan Chakma

When it comes to hanging out with friends, we can surely look forward to a day of unlimited fun, long conversations and obviously some good food. After surviving a gruelling round of classes and assignments, a hangout with friends can certainly charge us up for another encounter with hectic routines.
Eateries are often the chosen respites where a bunch of friends unite after scheduling and rescheduling plans according to everyone's convenience and more often than not, there are some common characters you will meet in every hangout. So, here we try to dissect a typical hangout and analyse the different characters that you may come across. I bet you have met a few of them, if not all, and perhaps you can relate each description with a familiar face too. Or maybe one of them is you.
The Selfie Obsessed: Selfies are 'in' and it is not unusual to have a friend who is selfie obsessed. At a hangout, the Selfie Queen or King will take multiple selfies with the food, the menu card, cutleries, napkins etc. Occasionally, he/she will fit 15 faces in a frame for a selfie. 'Oscar selfie' is quite an achievement, no?
The InstaFreak: These friends are tirelessly technological. They will first ask for the restaurant's Wi-Fi password, post a check-in, tag friends, Instagram the picture of the food and hashtag their way to the coffee cup or the fried chicken, both of which have turned stone cold by then.
The Latecomer: Excuses come to him as naturally as burps. He is the one stuck in Mohakhali flyover at any given time of the day. He helps the chicken cross the road or pays a visit to his cousin's friend's uncle who was stung by a bee. He simply has a plethora of reasons to be late because unlike you, he is important.
The Know-it-All: These are the experts who are happy to give their free opinions on everything. They will tell you which dish is the must-have, why a bit of lime could have done wonders to the steak and what to do with the extra ketchup. They are often the self acclaimed hosts, checking on everyone from time to time and making important decisions like whether or not to give a Tk 10 tip to the waiter.
The Big Bite: This category of friends will seldom spend their own money on food. They will order nothing or the least expensive item from the menu but have a bite of everyone's food. The amount of food they can swallow in one gulp is incredible too. A bite of your burger will take away one quarter of it. Just one bite.
The Hit and Miss: Just as the name suggests, they are a league of hopeless individuals who hit on people of the opposite gender at the eateries. Thank God we do not have hot waitresses here.
The Lovebirds: These are the souls lost in each other's eyes. Often they belong to the same circle of friends so you cannot subtract one from the pair. They sit in a corner, sip coffee from the same cup and giggle. Somebody might need to tell them the difference between a date and a hangout.  
Hangouts are soul cleansing. In this stressful age, getting together with friends has become a luxury than a daily routine. Consider yourself lucky if you get to hang around with friends often because at some point you will miss these good old days of carefree life with them, no matter how annoying, bossy or funny they are.