So I Walked into a Restaurant And...
Feb. 28th, 2021 01:48 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
canyonwalkerA funny thing happened when I walked into a restaurant today. I read the menu and said, "I'd rather just eat at home." Then I turned around and left.
Understand this is a new experience for me. The rare times I've walked out of a restaurant in the past without ordering were when nothing on the menu was appealing, or when the environment or service was decidedly off-putting (terrible smell, thunderously loud, excessive delay for service, etc.). This time nothing was wrong with the environment, and almost everything on the menu was stuff I'd be willing to eat... a year ago.
That's the crux: a year ago. Things have changed a lot over the past year.
A year ago I dined out for lunch and dinner most days of the week. Then came the Coronavirus pandemic. I turned on a dime to eating nearly all my meals from home. As inveterate a restaurant-goer as I was, I was impressed with how quickly I changed— and how little I itched for restaurant food. Still, a little itch doesn't mean no itch. I've always figured that I'll ease back into my old habits as the pandemic ebbs and life returns toward normal.
Today's experience does not indicate the pandemic is ebbing or life is returning to normal... yet. It was a newly opened restaurant (yeah, weird timing!) so we were curious about it, and it had well-spaced outdoors dining on a nice, sunny afternoon. And any other year in the past, I would have been all over the menu of burgers, pizzas, nachos, and wings like a hobo on a ham sandwich. But today my reaction was, "Meh. I'd rather eat at home."
...Speaking of which, it's time to check if my lunch is done baking!
Understand this is a new experience for me. The rare times I've walked out of a restaurant in the past without ordering were when nothing on the menu was appealing, or when the environment or service was decidedly off-putting (terrible smell, thunderously loud, excessive delay for service, etc.). This time nothing was wrong with the environment, and almost everything on the menu was stuff I'd be willing to eat... a year ago.
That's the crux: a year ago. Things have changed a lot over the past year.
A year ago I dined out for lunch and dinner most days of the week. Then came the Coronavirus pandemic. I turned on a dime to eating nearly all my meals from home. As inveterate a restaurant-goer as I was, I was impressed with how quickly I changed— and how little I itched for restaurant food. Still, a little itch doesn't mean no itch. I've always figured that I'll ease back into my old habits as the pandemic ebbs and life returns toward normal.
Today's experience does not indicate the pandemic is ebbing or life is returning to normal... yet. It was a newly opened restaurant (yeah, weird timing!) so we were curious about it, and it had well-spaced outdoors dining on a nice, sunny afternoon. And any other year in the past, I would have been all over the menu of burgers, pizzas, nachos, and wings like a hobo on a ham sandwich. But today my reaction was, "Meh. I'd rather eat at home."
...Speaking of which, it's time to check if my lunch is done baking!
