My stomach hurts

Why, oh why, do we do this to ourselves?

Eating is a natural part of the biological puzzle that makes up the every day working of the human body. How come my lunch was anything but natural? I turned my meal into an epic battle, a contest against time, and a contest against space. I've just had some Olive Garden.

I really, really don't like Olive Garden. Or, do I? It's that restaurant that you know is terrible, too expensive, too suburban, and too unhealthy. But, when you are too tired to fight it, too lazy to think of another meal, it is there for you. Free breadsticks glow in your mind like the dangling appendage of a deepwater angler fish, and you are helpless to it's effect. You find yourself smiling at the hostess stand, ready to tumble into a gaping maw of cheese and regret.

That's the sad part. I open my mouth and I put food in it because I like food. What I just experienced was anything but affection, it was more like hate. I hated each bite into my stomach. I was on the clock, rush rush rush, time to eat my American leftovers and get back to work. We went to the Olive Garden last night because it was easy, I grabbed my leftovers this morning because it was easy, and I ate without thinking because it was easy.

Eating is like any other work, and when it is worth doing, it is worth doing well. I realize now that by going to the OG, I was plagiarizing food. I was cheating. Now I face the consequences. Just like skipping work, instead of knowing my food, I know the ache in my stomach. It sits and worries at me like an upcoming test. When will I feel better? When will I learn?

So, we know why we do this to ourselves. It's because we found an easy way out. And that's the American way, but it's also the American way to work hard and find a better way.

Find a better way. Don't go to Olive Garden.