What Does The Food You Eat Say About Your Life?

Welcome to pre-pre-Friday everyone... we're over halfway there.  I'm not sure how everyone will feel about this update, but I figured I would give it a shot.  Afterall, you miss 100% of the shots that you don't take, right?  So, as I was eating lunch at work today, it really got me thinking.  Well, let me stop for a second and explain that I use the term "lunch" very loosely.  In my case, I get 30 glorious minutes for lunch.  This time is extremely precious to me.  I have 1,800 seconds where I don't have to sit at my desk, I don't have to answer the phone, I don't have to constantly check my inbox... in fact, I don't have to do anything.  Anyways, I normally don't eat, even though I should.  Ok... I've got a confession to make.  When it comes to food, I am EXTREMELY picky.  I don't like most sandwiches, nor do I care for leftovers; this makes my list of goods that I deem acceptable for lunch pretty short.  Ordering in all the time was getting expensive and picking up something is normally out of the question because 30 minutes doesn't give me enough time to get there and get back... until I found a KFC two blocks away last week.  Let's move on.


As I sat in my car gobbling up my chicken strip, potato wedges, and slurping a delicious, ice-cold Mountain Dew, something hit me.  "This is ridiculous!", I thought to myself.  I may have even said it aloud, although I doubt anyone would have been able to make any sense of the exclamation due to all of the greasy goodness that was preoccupying my mouth at the time.  What was ridiculous was that I was sitting in my car, in the heat (mind you I live in Florida and my car has no air conditioning), stuffing my face full of food that I really didn't even like, as fast as I could.  For what?  Why?

The first question is simple enough.  I was hungry.  After all, isn't that why you normally eat?  But why?  Hmm... Well, since I am sadly still earning my income actively rather than passively (Click here if you aren't sure what I'm talking about) there are quite a few reasons why...

• Sitting in my car - This, my friends, is a time management technique.  If I have to leave to get lunch I eat in my car to gain the few extra minutes it would take me to unload my lunch, take it inside to the break room, and put my food on a plate.  This may seem ridiculous, but by the time I get to my car, drive to KFC, and drive back, I usually have between ten and fifteen minutes to eat my lunch.  Of course, if I weren't under time constraints, this wouldn't be necessary, however these are the joys of my active income-ed-ness.

• Sitting in the heat - It's Florida... it's May, and there isn't anything I can do about that.  What I could do is turn on the air-conditioning in my car, if I had it.  Unfortunately, my ability to earn money actively does not allow me the ability to pay to get my air conditioner fixed.  Go figure!

•  Eating food I don't really like - KFC is fine every now and then, but when you eat it everyday, it tends to lose it's appeal with a quickness.  Some would say that I should go elsewhere.  While certainly logical, it's not really possible.  This isn't only an issue of time, but an issue of money.  If I were to venture out a little further there would be other places to choose from, but at what cost?  I would either be sacrificing more time for more fast food garbage or putting myself into a financial bind by going to places that, while being much more appealing, and probably healthier, come with a much heftier price tag.

But what can you do?  By working for someone else, you are bound to their expectations, rules, and policies.  Sure, sometimes suggestions can be made and these things can change.  But, if you rally for too much change, don't be surprised if you find yourself standing in the unemployment line.  Although what choice do we have?  Ok... so, we can save up some money, try to strike out on our own... hire a handful of "us's" to abide by our policies... but what change is that making?  Don't get me wrong, going into business for yourself can be very rewarding but at the same time it's difficult.  It's not uncommon to get in over your head and to lose your ass.  Just some food for thought...

In my next update, I'm going to discuss what other options we have in freeing ourselves from thirty minute lunch breaks and an income that we aren't exactly ecstatic about.  Until then, it's KFC for me.