Personally, I enjoy to turn to the server with my absolute dumb-animal stare and ask "working??" The follow-up is usually "shall I clear this?"
Thinking about it, I think I know why that phrase comes up. It's okay for Americans to work. Work is noble, honorable, self-defining, etc. It's what we do. "Eating" on the otherhand is shameful. It has to do with the body, bodily functions, and pleasure. Asking a patron if they're eating would be like asking the server where you can go shit. You have to pretend you're going to "bathe," or "rest," or just be a "woman/man" to find out where you can shit, piss, deficate, urinate, eliminate etc.
It's supposed to be embarassing and bad to be eating. Women particularly, especially large women, don't want to be accused of eating, or worse yet of "still" eating. It's too much like "What, FATSO! are you still shoveling food into your MOUTH?!" No, no, I'm not eating, I would never Eat, how dare you accuse me of EATING, I'm just working. Yes, that's it, it's my job and my duty to consume this meal, so I'm WORKING.
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Thinking about it, I think I know why that phrase comes up. It's okay for Americans to work. Work is noble, honorable, self-defining, etc. It's what we do. "Eating" on the otherhand is shameful. It has to do with the body, bodily functions, and pleasure. Asking a patron if they're eating would be like asking the server where you can go shit. You have to pretend you're going to "bathe," or "rest," or just be a "woman/man" to find out where you can shit, piss, deficate, urinate, eliminate etc.
It's supposed to be embarassing and bad to be eating. Women particularly, especially large women, don't want to be accused of eating, or worse yet of "still" eating. It's too much like "What, FATSO! are you still shoveling food into your MOUTH?!" No, no, I'm not eating, I would never Eat, how dare you accuse me of EATING, I'm just working. Yes, that's it, it's my job and my duty to consume this meal, so I'm WORKING.