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Three Years of Dining Out Less
Mar. 15th, 2023 02:20 pmToday marks the three year anniversary of when Hawk and I began our Safer-at-Home practices. A lot of people think of it as "lockdown" with the policies that started in various states and countries in March 2020 in response to the widening Coronavirus pandemic. Indeed, our locality, then our region, then California, then the US enacted various lockdown measures that month... though those began a few days after my spouse and I made personal decisions to limit our activities.
On that morning we disagreed about curtailing trips. Hawk was happy to say "No" to visiting restaurants, I was not. Dining out has been a habit for me my entire adult life. For a few years before the pandemic I'd been dining out (or buying takeout food) typically 13 times a week. I was willing to think about reducing that but I wasn't ready to stop.
Things were going okay as I ate my lunch... until a man with a child walked in. Immediately I started watching the boy like a hawk. He was about 6 years old, right within that age range where kids are mobile, and getting big, and still don't know to cover their mouths when they cough and sneeze. I could tell other patrons were watching, too. It's like everyone's head swiveled around following the child across the dining area.
Quickly I saw that the risk wasn't the one I imagined. The boy wasn't running around coughing and sneezing.... Instead he was climbing on the chair, climbing on the table, putting his hands all over the wall and everything else, and then putting his hands in his mouth. His hapless dad was quietly urging him to stop and sit down, but kids that age have way more energy than listening skills. The risk wasn't to me, or to any of the other diners watching; it was to the boy and his family! Certainly he was going to catch something, a cold or flu at least, and likely get his whole family sick within days.
Still, in that moment I changed my mind. Although the boy showed no signs of being sick or posing an immediate threat to anyone, his behavior illustrated to me that however careful I might be in indoors public situations, I could not count on anyone else around me being careful. The only sure way to meaningfully reduce my risk— given the tools available 3 years ago— was to stop going out so much.
It turned out that my dining-out habit was not a hard habit to break... at least not when so many things were closed temporarily. I pivoted from dining out basically twice a day to dining out not at all for 31 days. And when I did return to a restaurant it was just to buy takeout.
Over the 3 years since I decided to change my restaurant habits (temporarily) I have gradually eased back toward dining out. First it was visiting a restaurant once a month, for takeout. Then once a week. Then once or twice a week and sitting outside while the weather was nice. We resumed dining inside restaurants after getting vaccinated & when state/county restrictions relaxed. I remember our first indoors restaurant visit after more than a year was in Idaho on a vacation.
Since then I've resumed restaurant dining more often. I'm not back to my old rate of 13 times a week, though. I've purposefully kept that down to about 8x/week. It's not just for risk mitigation vis-a-vis Covid but also for improved nutrition. It's easier to control portion sizes and excesses of salt, sugar, and fat when cooking at home.
A Hard Habit to Break
March 15, 2020 was a Sunday. That morning Hawk and I discussed the growing pandemic and what precautions we should take. We had already agreed on things like stocking up our pantry with 2 weeks of food in case we got sick and weren't able to go out, or if widespread sickness— or fear of sickness— caused supply chain disruptions. Indeed by this day 3 years ago we were already seeing runs on the market. That day we discussed whether we should stop dining out.On that morning we disagreed about curtailing trips. Hawk was happy to say "No" to visiting restaurants, I was not. Dining out has been a habit for me my entire adult life. For a few years before the pandemic I'd been dining out (or buying takeout food) typically 13 times a week. I was willing to think about reducing that but I wasn't ready to stop.
The Moment I Changed My Mind
I went out to lunch that day while Hawk stayed home. I continued thinking about the issue as I sat at a favorite local joint, "The Ponies". I was in one of my usual seats in a corner of the dining area. I sat there on purpose to create as much distance from other patrons as possible. As well, I went at a slightly off hour expecting the restaurant not to be crowded. These were both social distancing measures. I was also watching all the other patrons at the restaurant, ready to move or even consider leaving early if someone was coughing and sneezing a lot.Things were going okay as I ate my lunch... until a man with a child walked in. Immediately I started watching the boy like a hawk. He was about 6 years old, right within that age range where kids are mobile, and getting big, and still don't know to cover their mouths when they cough and sneeze. I could tell other patrons were watching, too. It's like everyone's head swiveled around following the child across the dining area.
Quickly I saw that the risk wasn't the one I imagined. The boy wasn't running around coughing and sneezing.... Instead he was climbing on the chair, climbing on the table, putting his hands all over the wall and everything else, and then putting his hands in his mouth. His hapless dad was quietly urging him to stop and sit down, but kids that age have way more energy than listening skills. The risk wasn't to me, or to any of the other diners watching; it was to the boy and his family! Certainly he was going to catch something, a cold or flu at least, and likely get his whole family sick within days.
Still, in that moment I changed my mind. Although the boy showed no signs of being sick or posing an immediate threat to anyone, his behavior illustrated to me that however careful I might be in indoors public situations, I could not count on anyone else around me being careful. The only sure way to meaningfully reduce my risk— given the tools available 3 years ago— was to stop going out so much.
Breaking the Habit, Coming Partway Back
A few days after I came to the personal decision to dine out less it became a government decision. A lockdown was announced first in several counties in my region, then several more, then statewide, then more or less nationwide.It turned out that my dining-out habit was not a hard habit to break... at least not when so many things were closed temporarily. I pivoted from dining out basically twice a day to dining out not at all for 31 days. And when I did return to a restaurant it was just to buy takeout.
Over the 3 years since I decided to change my restaurant habits (temporarily) I have gradually eased back toward dining out. First it was visiting a restaurant once a month, for takeout. Then once a week. Then once or twice a week and sitting outside while the weather was nice. We resumed dining inside restaurants after getting vaccinated & when state/county restrictions relaxed. I remember our first indoors restaurant visit after more than a year was in Idaho on a vacation.
Since then I've resumed restaurant dining more often. I'm not back to my old rate of 13 times a week, though. I've purposefully kept that down to about 8x/week. It's not just for risk mitigation vis-a-vis Covid but also for improved nutrition. It's easier to control portion sizes and excesses of salt, sugar, and fat when cooking at home.
