CHALLENGE ALERT: MOVING DAY!

From time to time I’m going to post about unique challenges that pose an obstacle to remaining fast food-free for one year. Today I’m going to talk about something that popped up and I hadn’t really thought about it as being a challenge: moving day.

So this past week I moved to a new residence. We’ve all been there… the boxes, crates, carefully packing (or just randomly throwing stuff into containers with the hope that we’ll be able to find it all later), dusty tops of shelves, wishing that we did not keep so much useless crap, etc etc. It’s a dirty job, but sometimes we all have to do it. So, why would this be a challenge to me regarding not eating fast food? Well, it’s simple.

At some point during the day when the Uhaul is about half full and we’re starting to get tired, we realize that it’s time to grab something to eat. Well, given that most of the kitchen is secured away inside cardboard containers, it really doesn’t make sense to try to cook something at home. Also, who wants to have to clean up a kitchen right in the middle of a move?

So then, the food options start floating through our head. The ol’ tried and true pizza delivery seems to be the favorite for movers and their unfortunate friends who volunteered to help instead of going to the baseball game that Saturday, but alas, that was not an option for me given this project. So, how about a nice bucket of chicken with all the wonderful processed side items for everyone? Oops… can’t do that either. So, what to do? I can’t cook at home because home is a transitory thing at that moment, and all of the usual quick and easy food options are out given that most of them fall into the fast food category.

So, who came to the rescue to feed me and my valiant moving crew? The ever-reliable family diner! A short distance from the new house was a landmark café in Tulsa and I suggested that we all load up, travel a few blocks, and use the opportunity to avoid fast food to relax and be waited on for a couple of hours. So we headed on down to the corner diner and enjoyed a great meal and a friendly waitress. And, in the middle of it, I learned how much better it is in the middle of a tiring moving day to not have to speak into a speaker to get something to eat. The enjoyment of relaxing in a booth and being taken care of was such a wonderful, welcome break from the day. Plus, the overall tab for our group was cheaper than if we had ordered pizza or fast food. That was the icing on the cake!