Soup... it's a drink, not a meal.

Soup: a 'meal' with an identity crisis!

I hate soup.
Always have.
Always will.
It's a textural thing.
Thicken it up and add stuff too it until you can leave a spoon free-standing upright in it.
And I'll eat it with gusto...
But of course then it's a STEW!!!

Now I'm not soup-ist. I hold nothing against those who like soup.
You like soup...
Sit at my table. Good for you. Enjoy. Go back for seconds.
But whatever you do, don't try and convince me soup is a meal.
IT'S NOT... It's a drink in a bowl.

Now some companies are honest about it. There's Lipton's Cup-a-Soup, Continental's Cup.a.Soup, and Batchelor's Cup A Soup, just to name 3. (see photo example)They admit what a soup is and market it accordingly.

But NO WAY... no matter fancy the restaurant, is soup the START of a meal.
The bread in the basket is probably acceptable... but not the soup.
The basic rule is...
If you need to chew it... it's part of a meal. And if you're chewing soup it's either a weird ice cream, or it's stew, a hot pot, a casserole and so not soup.
And therefore:

1. adding croutons
2. a swirl of cream
3. dipping bread into it
4. whacking noodles in it
5. or adding a garnish of parsley on top...

DOES NOT make the soup a meal.
Any more then dunking a biscuit in your tea or coffee turns it into a dessert.
You'd simply be:

1. wasting weird bits of bread
2. trying to be artistic
3. eating bread with a drink
4. keeping your noodles soft
5. trying to find a way to get rid of parsley

So when I'm offered soup by someone... I'm not rude, as I said I'm not soup-ist...
I politely decline by saying:

"No for me, thank you. I'm not thirsty..."