Week 50/52
I went to this fancy place for lunch on the weekend. Getting ready felt so weird, not just because it’s been a while (16 days, to be precise) since I last went out to dine. Yup I succumb to hunger and friends’ invitations. No, I don’t take as much care as I could have been taking with regards to COVID-19. So getting ready felt weird, not because we were going out for lunch but because we were going to this fancy place for lunch. It’s the fancy part that’s the catch.
Growing up, I was taught to pinch pennies. Compare the price of veggies. Factor in the time/fuel cost it takes to reach each of the market options. Factor in other factors. Account the expenditure. Money matters.
“You aren’t paying today”, I told myself, trying to get my hair untangled. “You’re endorsing exorbitant spending on elite dining, you’re gonna spend on this one meal an amount that’s gonna take some others a month to earn, you’re such a hypocrite…”. Urgh. Once I start blaming myself, I usually end up convinced that I’m personally responsible for all the problems facing humanity. But I’ve been making some slow progress in this aspect.
I ended up going and it was a memorable meal. We sat outdoor and there was the sound of flowing water in the background. I laughed a lot. I ate a lot. The six of us ordered half the dishes on their three page menu. Most of it was good. All of it was pretty.
Dad looked at the pics of all the food I ate and gave his estimate of the cost. He was off by a factor of two, and he wasn’t pleased. Trivandrum must be getting expensive, he mused. No it’s just this one place, I assured him. I wouldn’t have gone there if it weren’t a sponsored treat, I said, probably sounding a little too defensive. Maybe you can take us there when we visit you, he said. I wasn’t sure if he was kidding. It didn’t seem like it.
