Food.

-by Adam-

This past weekend we went out with some friends in what we deemed will be our last fine-dining experience for these 2+ years until we’re debt free.  It was a going away party of sorts for us.  And a sad one for me because I love food.  Not only do I love food, I love expensive food.  I love expensive food and I love sharing it with my wife and my friends.  I can drop a Benjamin on dinner faster than you can say “Cabernet Sauvignon.”  And I like to do it often. 

At the restaurant Duo this weekend, our table shared Scallop Carpaccio, Anchovy Deviled Eggs, and Rabbit Rilletes.  Then I finished it off with a pork chop that would make Homer Simpson cry.  And with every bite, I was simultaneously euphoric and profoundly sad, because I knew this was it.  I know this way of living isn’t sustainable, isn’t responsible, and isn’t even morally acceptable for me. 

So we’re quitting.

My dad used to get very angry with me over cereal.  I ate cereal for breakfast probably 5,000 times between ages 4 and 18, and I loved all kinds.  But I refused to eat that last 1/10^th of the box of cereal—you know what I’m talking about, that part with all of the Lucky Charms dust, or the Frosted Flakes that have just become Frost.  And being the martyr he is, after getting angry with me he would combine the leftovers from three or four cereal boxes to make his own bowl of crumby, dusty cereal, and I would feel guilty the entire time I watched him eat it. 

I hope to learn a lot from our whole experience over these next two years, but one thing I hope to learn the most is the value of food.  I want to learn how it feels to not be able to get take-out or fast food every time we are too lazy to plan ahead, or worse, we have plenty of food but are too lazy or tired to make it.  No more “yeah we’ll just make that Chicken tomorrow night” or “that [insert perishable vegetable in fridge] will still be good in a couple of days right?”  If I’m out of decent food in the pantry on a Saturday afternoon, Jimmy John’s is not the answer—I am going to eat that can of vegetable soup that’s been sitting there for weeks, darn it.  We are going to buy lots of frozen meat and vegetables.  We are going to find a way to use our perishable items before they go bad.

 

We are going to have a back-up plan, because that sushi restaurant across the street is not an answer.

And when I’m too dumb or lazy to plan ahead, I will be thinking of my Dad with every bite of that mixture of Corn Chex, Froot Loops and Smacks that I have to eat.