Potlucks - an American tradition?

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I've never experienced them over here. Sometimes people might make their own dishes and share them with people if they're going camping, say, but there isn't a tradition of these in the UK as there is in the US.

Any comments on this?

first thing that popped into my head :

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTMwo7lCeFo[/youtube]

I went to some a couple of times when I was a small child.

I thought this happened all over.

I have gone to some. You bring something over for others to eat. It's not polite to show up without bringing anything so people who can't afford to buy something for the potluck don't go.

One of my autism groups does it like twice a year.

I also thought that everybody had potlucks around the world. You learn something new, every day.

Communal eating isn't really something the British do. We might do coffee mornings or give the homeless a special meal at Christmas time but otherwise we don't do it.

In Britain it's probably something we used to do but simply moved on from.

The eating instinct fills social needs in people and herd animals. I usually daydream while eating.

Potlucks are something that people would set up at jobs I've held. It was a good way to get to know people from different departments. I always felt like I would get stuck having to be the center of attention more than I was comfortable with. My family and their friends used to also gather with everyone bringing a dish on Independence Day. I have some fond memories from those back in my childhood.

I recently attended a potluck memorial service which I found quite bizarre. It was held in a secular meeting hall and there was no activity but face-stuffing. If there were music and it was called a wake, I wouldn't have been bothered by the food, if it were a post-funeral gathering in a home and there were light refreshments, I wouldn't have been bothered by the food, but a memorial service with a choice of entrees? I was bothered by all the food.