In the last two days I've had four meals in restaurants ... two breakfasts and two lunches. Why do I eat out so much? How did I come to eat out this much? Is this a good use of money?
I am preparing for a 21-day money fast between April 3 and 24. I am using the first half of Lent to be more aware of my spending habits and patterns and then I will fast from spending money for anything but the most essential items for the second half of Lent.
Here are the four times I've eaten in restaurants in the last two days.
Meal out number 1 -- Ash Wednesday we have a tradition of staff members who participate in the 8 a.m. service of going out for breakfast afterwards. I participated because I like hanging out with other staff members.
Meal out number 2 -- Ever since the beginning of the year I have been taking a different staff member out to lunch once a week, just to talk and to ask them what they think Foundry is doing well and what we might do better. I had one such lunch Wednesday afternoon. It was a great conversation.
Meal out number 3 -- Yesterday morning I had an early breakfast with a consultant who had counseled me during a time of transition a couple of years ago. He suggested breakfast because he wanted to keep in touch and talk to me about a new project he is working on. He is a good guy, and very smart, so it was great to spend time with him.
Meal out number 4 -- Weeks ago I had scheduled lunch with another pastor who is also working to end homelessness in DC. We have met several times and every time we meet we meet over lunch. I am not sure why. I do it because I think this is his preference but I've never really asked him. He may do it because it thinks it is my preference.
I have a beautiful office at the church. Why do I have so many meetings at restaurants and coffee shops, I wonder? Meals out are really quite expensive. I try to order healthy meals when I eat out, but the truth is that restaurant food is rarely as healthy as food Jane and I prepare for ourselves, so I am not sure eating out so much is very healthy either.
If I have lunch meetings scheduled during my money fast, I plan to invite folk to my office and to bring a pre-prepared lunch from home that I've prepared myself from basic ingredients I buy at the supermarket. I don't have any idea how to handle breakfast meetings.
Conversations over meals or coffee are more relaxed, I think. They are more relational and less task oriented. I assume this is a good thing, but it isn't cheap, especially if you go to any of the restaurants near Foundry.
Is it just me or do other people have lots of meetings over meals and in coffee shops? Does anybody have any ideas about why we do this? Is it a good use of money? I'd appreciate your thoughts.
Dean, I eat dinner out 5-6 evenings per week. I do this because I work at home full time, and living alone, the last thing I want to do is cook for myself and eat alone. Eating out for me is a social thing, whether it's with others, or alone sitting at the bar of a restaurant (I very rarely eat alone at a table). I also try to eat exclusively at locally owned restaurants, never chains.
ReplyDeleteAt times, there is some guilt, as I know I could be saving the money and donating it to good causes. I counter this by looking at the many people I am as a customer helping to literally survive. Not just the owners, but the waiters/bartenders I engage in directly, the cooks, the busboys and dishwashers who I always make a point to say hello and if I can speak to, knowing I may be the only customer who does that day. In addition, I remember that the latter could very well be someone's ESL student, and try to treat them as I would one of our students.
The weekend after September 11th, the client load at the food bank I volunteer at in Arlington went up 46% and this increased load continued long term. The majority of these were those that work in the hospitality industry, workers at restaurants and in other jobs at National Airport that immediately shut down, or hotel and restaurant workers living in Arlington who's jobs were affected by the subsequent impact on tourism in Washington after the attacks. Many of the people we see (and especially those we don't in the back) are literally living on the edge. Our business at restaurants, and the business of other customers, keeps them employed.
Thanks Andy. Last Sunday morning I mentioned that I'd eaten at a local restaurant after church the previous Sunday and most of the people there were Foundry folk. I wondered out loud at the 11 a.m. service how those of us doing the money fast might affect those who work at the restaurants. Someone on the way out told me he would tip double the Sundays others of us were doing the money fast. There are no easy answers, are there?
ReplyDeleteI was thinking about your wondering how to pay for things & where to get money. You can still write checks at many grocery stores. The place I'd have the most trouble is at the gas station. I haven't used anything but plastic at gas pump in oh, 15 years? And getting cash -- mynearest bank branch is on River Road in Bethesda and I live near University Ave in Hyattsville. I hope you meet the callenge.
ReplyDeleteJoye
Since you will not be spending a lot of the money you usually spend, what will you be doing with the windfall you will have on April 23rd? A CD? Tithing? Eating out?
ReplyDelete