Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

sadly, you have to eat this with a fork and the cone gets all soggy because of the steam. it's an interesting concept, but not one that was totally thought out.

I'm a sharer. With family and some friends I will share any of mine and try any of theirs, often finishing the left over bits or cleaning up other peoples plates. Sometimes I steal food from others without asking, but knowing that those people won't mind. Sharing goes beyond food, and extends to utensils in my family, I know its not for everyone, but it works out great for us.

sharing does not bother me at all...just DON"T eat from my personal dish in front of me...or try to feed me off your fork/chopsticks..I will leave !!!

It seems unnatural for me not to share, but then I grew up in a family where sharing food was the norm. It was very weird one time when I went out with a group of friends to a place I knew had mediocre big portions (I was outvoted on where to go) and asked if anyone wanted to split a dish with me and they all looked at me like I was insane. I shut-up and at the end no one finished their meal.

There are some unspoken rules to polite sharing though. If you ask, make sure you have something to give back. My mom is the queen of breaking this rule, she'll always be like I'm not that hungry I'll just have a bite of yours and of course half the time she's paying so it's not like anyone can say no. It was especially obnoxious when we were in Italy where you're trying to taste as much of everything in the short amount of time you have. I think this stems from when my sister and I were kids and would never finish our meals, but we're not kids anymore.

Another is don't force anyone to order what you want just to share. My littlest sister is famous for doing this and she gets away with it because stepmom wants her to eat. I was amazed at how she dictated what my stepmom and dad would eat and when she turned to me I was just like uh uh I know what I'm getting.

Ask ask ask is the third. There are certain occasions where you don't have to (my sister and I never do when we go out to eat together, but we've been doing that a long time) but always err on the side of asking. It's just good to be polite.

Different occasions call for different types of sharing. Now that I've moved I've got to find new dining companions who like to share.

First of all I think one should never 'steal' off another's plate. Silverware incl chopsticks were originally weapons to defend one's food, so permission should be asked before reaching over, unless permission was firmly previously established.
I have a problem with 'plate envy' so I may choose to order the same thing as another, because why order something else, only to then desire the other's plate more than my own. So right on @ksimmy. I usually interview my table mates before I make a choice, unless I had one of those lucky days where I have a craving that the restaurant can fulfill.
I am happy to have you share, and may put the brakes on if you are eating most of mine, and none of yours (which I don't desire either).
I can't stand all that germ phobic behavior of 'you can have that corner, I didn't touch it'. If you are that phobic you are unsuitable for sharing I think.
I love family style because my preference is usually a little taste of everything. Getting Chinese take-out with my mate is a challenge 'cause he just orders and eats his one or two things and doesn't want any of mine. (He is a reluctant sharer-but has been trainable.) So that's makes for less variety. I solve this issue by ordering 3 dishes for me, me, and me and eating the leftovers for lunch over a few days. Problem solved.
Sharing is nice but what is even nicer is respecting people's eating preferences incl wether they share or not (and not incl. someone forbidding for you to order the same as them).

Sharing is the standard for me and my husband. We almost never order the same dish. Usually upon their arrival we each taste both of the dishes. If one of us strongly prefers the other's dish, we switch. If we both really like both dishes, we each eat about half and then switch plates. If we both like the same dish and both really dislike the other (which is infrequent), my husband insists that I eat the better dish. We didn't concoct this rigid-sounding regime - it has simply evolved over many years of wedded bliss. A perfect system (ok, less perfect for him)!

I like family style meals and usually like sharing. The only exception to this is when I go to a tapas restaurant...I always feel like there is not enough food and everything is so tasty but there is just so little of it!! I get too stressed out-I just want to ask the server to bring me the rest of whatever I ordered that little taste is NOT enough.

Sharing is permissible any time people agree to share.

I have one friend for whom most of our eating outs (or occasional takeouts) go thusly: order. eat, eat, eat, eat, switch. eat, eat, eat, eat, switch ... we wind up the meal with both of our plates somewhere near the center of the table as we pick over them ... However, she's about the only person I'll do that with. In my family if we go out we usually ask for a bite, and it's always given ... or we proactively offer a bit of our own as a hint that we want some of theirs.

I was disappointed by the ribs, but my friends and I devoured a huge plate of the rock and roll fries in about a minute. Those things must have crack in them.

My boyfriend and I go out to eat often with our two best friends, and we always try to order four different meals, so as to all taste everything. This seems totally normal to me, but at the same time, I would never do it with someone else (even sharing with our families is off limits).

I grew up with a dad who would take pieces of food he wanted off mom's plate without asking. She is a picky eater and this would drive her absolutely nuts. By proxy, it started to drive me nuts too. She isn't someone who takes pleasure in food, she sees eating as a chore. So if someone takes the one bite she was actually interested in.... Anyway, my husband knows not to take without asking. He learned the hard way when he snatched a fry. I'll share bites, but like others have said I order what I order for a reason.