MISCELLANEOUS MONDAY - Lunchtime tribulation

As children we are asked "what do you want to be when you grow up?". I mean the obvious answer would have been "happy". However no one is that wise, except maybe John Joe from the Late Late Toy Show.We would have answered singer, movie star, astronaut, or in my case at age 11, a meteorologist. What a little randomer I was. So from a young age we are geared to think of our future as being our career. As we go through secondary school the emphasis is even stronger again and we get a more realistic perception of what we would like to do. This is our main goal.

Whatever career path we take, we believe once we get our dream job that we will be happy. Yes, you will be happy with your job but what people don't realise is there will still be one struggle we must consider everyday. That is lunch. For me this is a big deal, so I made a visual representation of the mental flow chart I go through. Maybe you can relate. 



 

1) I work in an industrial estate with limited restaurant options. If going out in a group, it's like a military operation. There are so many things need to be addressed prior to the lunchtime rush. Such as who will drive, how many cars to take, not to mention where to go and have I even looked at the menu before?! It's not for the faint hearted and it's likely this will be a Friday frollic. 

2) Ah the surprise sandwich I like to call it. So I decide I'll go for the old reliable ham and cheese. Its, safe, it's simple, it's a stable feature of the Irish diet. Oh, but what's this, there has been cross contamination! I believe I ordered ham and cheese, not ham, cheese, a few red onions embedded into the butter, some yellow peppers, one strip of iceberg lettuce and a random gherkin. I understand it's rush hour so I'm in no position to complain, I'll just sit back and enjoy my casual sandwich, or maybe not. 

3) I've never prided myself on my culinary skills. Throwing a salad together should not be so difficult. I underestimate my appetite when it comes to salad. I mean it looks like loads but when I open my lunchbox I realise I've only just tipped a whole bag of pre-washed Italian salad lettuce in with no thought. One deep breath and it's gone. I still have 58 minutes left of my break. 3 minutes scrolling on Facebook and I'm thinking about chocolate. Well there goes my healthy start to the week and I rationalize it with "well tomorrow is Tuesday and sure it's only a day away from the middle of the week and the middle of the week is closer to the end than the start and you deserve chocolate after the long week you've had,"

4) Well this just never happens. I think maybe once during the strong frost of 2010 but other than that, it's pretty much always 1 - 3. 


If in doubt you can't bate a tayto sambo or a greasy McDonalds every now and again. 

Thanks for reading :) MOD X