Pterodactyl Soup and Saber Tooth Tiger Stew

The next time you sit down to eat, don’t jump right in and scarf it all down. Look at it closely. Ask yourself this question as you do… How much physical exertion did it take on your part for the food to end up on your plate? Maybe you’re staring at a cooked meal made at home. You can say you went to the grocers and bought everything, came home, prepared it and now you are ready to consume it. Maybe you’re at a diner. You got in your car, entered the facility, was seated, and served. Are you in your car in the parking lot of Wendy’s? 

I live in the country. OK… well not like “Little House on the Prairie” country, but country enough to where I have only one pizzeria in my area that will deliver. Why does this matter? I lived in Manhattan for nearly eight years. I was accustomed to waking up first thing in the morning, literally having opened just one eye, picking up the phone on the nightstand next to my bed, and ordering a toasted blueberry muffin and coffee from the deli on the corner. Then my wife and me moved about twenty-five minutes out of the city in New Jersey. Although I couldn’t order a muffin and coffee, we still had many places that delivered. Now, unless I want pizza all the time, I have to get in my car and drive anywhere between five to ten miles to pick up take-out of any kind. I could just hear some of you now… “Dude, really? You sound a little selfish. You should be thankful that you even have food in your refrigerator!” I agree… just stick with me a little longer.

Recently I had ordered Chinese take-out and there is only one place that has the best by far. It’s just a little less than ten miles from us. I happened to be particularly hungry that day, as I hadn’t eaten lunch. This made the ride feel more like twenty miles. As I drove the country scenic road to the restaurant, I felt the twinge of my being selfish in thinking that it was a chore to have to drive “all the way” to pick up my food. I started thinking, “What must it have been like when you had to go out and kill your food, and if you didn’t, you couldn’t eat?” Imagine that? You wake up in the morning, stomach growling, and the only way to quench your hunger is by getting your club and killing the first thing that comes your way. Sure, after a kill, I would imagine there was a chance that they could have had pterodactyl soup and saber tooth tiger stew for breakfast lunch and dinner all week, but still… they had to go out to hunt and gather their food. I, on the other hand, had to get in my car, which has heated seats, XM Satellite radio, driver and passenger temperature control… I mean… really! Don’t get me wrong; I fully understand the upside of not having to kill for my meals. But at the same time you have to think of the kind of character building benefits that provides. Getting in a car and picking up food in cardboard containers, well… not so much. I felt my selfishness melt away, and the grouchiness retreated like a dog that got a swat on its backside for peeing on the rug.

Whether you’re a person who believes in blessings, or simply in good fortune, to be able to get in a car to travel anywhere, is a blessing in and of itself. To be able to afford the luxury of take-out is something one shouldn’t take for granted. Also, I need to slow down on relying on take-out food anyway, and discipline myself in cooking more… but that’s a topic for a whole other post. Bon Appétit!