As Iatemy dinner I was able to look up whenever I liked and see the oak table, the gleaming plate with its chicken leg and baked potato, the glowing silverware, and my reflection looking up alertly, like someone whose attention has been called to an important matter.
"I was a typical American consumer - I shopped a lot, Iate most of my meals in take-out containers, I took cabs everywhere, " said Michelle, a journalist with a weekly business magazine.