'Pudding mit Gabel': Why is Gen Z eating pudding with forks in parks?

Young people in Germany, the US and the UK are meeting up in parks to do nothing but eat pudding with a fork. What's behind this strange but simple Gen Z act that's going viral on social media? Hanover, Germany (dpa) – The goal is no less than to forget "all the problems," says one participant. Others say it's a way to vent. Or maybe just to have fun. It could also be a yearning for community, UK media say. The fact is, nobody knows exactly why young people are meeting up to sit in the park and eat pudding with a fork. But they're now doing it by the hundreds in cities worldwide. With a concept that's as simple as it is bizarre, fork-eating pudding sessions are pulling in eager Gen Z participants in London, New York, Boston and Seattle as part of a trend that has been going viral on TikTok. We don't know who started the movement, but we do know it began in Germany with a flyer in the south-western city of Karlsruhe: "Come to our 'We eat pudding with a fork meeting.'" Origins in Germany A meme page from Karlsruhe took this as an opportunity to promote the event. "We found the idea so charming and funny and thought: Come on, let's post something about it," said Mehran Nadimi, one of the operators of the Instagram account karlsruher.memes with nearly 84,000 followers. The first "Pudding mit Gabel" (pudding with a fork) meeting took place at the end of August. Footage shows many young people who, after a countdown, simultaneously stab at their pudding with a fork and then eat it together, sometimes from large tubs. Some even bang their tubs together in a toast. After hundreds of thousands of views, the meetings spread to other cities like Berlin, Hamburg, Dresden and Munich, as well as cities in other countries. In late September, more than 1,000 young people gathered to eat pudding together in the city of Hanover – all using forks instead of spoons. In Hanover, an Instagram account with nearly 145,000 followers was behind the pudding meet-up. In the comments, many users picked up on the humour and asked whether jelly could also be eaten with a fork or if they could bring their bread knife. A way to vent The absurdity of the meeting is a kind of "vent in our current times," a spokeswoman from Hanover said. It's simply something "where you can have a laugh," adding that this is characteristic of Generation Z, those born between 1995 and 2010: responding to serious circumstances with humour and absurdity. In Hanover, one participant called Ida said that activities for young people have become expensive. The pudding meet-up, on the other hand, is a fun activity that is cheap and accessible to everyone. She came with four friends and brought a chocolate pudding along with a large fork. Another participant, Robert, said: "There will definitely be a big escalation here." People come who thought, "Eating pudding with spoons is rubbish, eating pudding alone is rubbish." So, they meet, bring a fork, and eat the pudding together. The aim is to forget "all the problems" for a day. A response to isolation? In the UK, tabloid website Metro suggests that in the era of remote work and online communication, heightened isolation among Gen Z could be behind efforts to find a fun and simple excuse to meet strangers in the park. "We just wanted to socialize," the website quotes one London participant as saying, noting the need for places outside home and work to meet people. "It is a nice third space, which we don’t have any of anymore." Whatever the motivation, the trend is well received by many internet users: "In our world today full of problems, fears and frustration, it's really a fun event full of lightness," one user online commented on a video of a pudding meeting in Karlsruhe. Another writes: "Seriously, don't they have anything better to do?" Looking back, Nadimi said: "We did not expect this momentum." He noticed from the feedback that this inexpensive event was also an opportunity for participation. Many people came to the pudding meet-up alone and met new people there. "That's what I found beautiful about it," said Nadimi. In the video caption of the pudding meet-up in Karlsruhe, it says: "What we take away from this: Pudding connects people." The following information is not intended for publication dpa boo tst sck xxde wjh coh

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