Food Floof! The usual?

8 months ago

My first job as a teen was in fast food. Subway, to be exact. Of course, we had our regulars. We had several regulars that would come in every single day and get the exact same thing, no variation. Every. Day. I worked there from age 15 to 18 or 19 or so, before going off to night minion work to make big girl money. Over those years, you get friendly with said regulars and of course the topic would come up. Why the same thing? Every day of your life? While I am ALL for eating whatever you want however you want all the time, I was curious. The reasons varied.

One man (footlong roasted chicken on white)- said that it tasted good and that's it. He liked it. Fair enough.

Another man (footlong meatball on italian herb and cheese)- It was good for 2 meals and it was a hot meal he did not have to cook. I get that.

A very nice lady (6 inch turkey on wheat)- she had the calories counted to the tee, and it was easy to plan and vary her calories for dinner if her breakfast and lunch were the same every day. I do not remember what she told me she had for breakfast everyday. I DO remember how carefully she monitored how much mayo I put on her sub. When I became manager and had the authority to do so, I started to order individual mayo packets for her to put on herself. She appreciated it enormously. It seemed to give her anxiety to leave it in someone else's control. I hope she is doing well. I relate to her reasons more than I care to think about sometimes.

There was a girl around my age who would not come in everyday, but a couple nights a week. (6 in ham and cheese on white) I remember her toppings as well. A little mayo and a LOT of pickles. I remember because I tried it once because that sounded good to me and it WAS. I like pickles. Subway had really good pickle slices i remember. She told me she was a picky eater and the only meats she liked were ham and pepperoni. I convinced her to let me put pepperoni on her ham sandwich once. Try it, I said, if you do not like it I'll make you a regular ham and cheese. It became her new regular order. She did not know that we had the big pepperoni that goes on sandwiches before then.

Another lady (footlong BMT on italian herb and cheese)- Its the first kind of sub she had tried at Subway, liked it well enough, and did not want to risk wasting money on something new that she might not like at all. I thought this was a strange reason (though whatever reason one gives for eating what THEY want is VALID in my eyes) because at the time Subway was nothing special, the toasters were just coming in at the end of my time there. It was just cold cut sandwiches, just a few hot options. And I thought, I mean, you know what kind of lunchmeat you like right? But whatever, like I said, I was curious not judgy.

Also, this was the time that the "Subway diet" was still going strong, so many people were buying into that and coming to get the same thing all the time to try to lose weight. I would not call those people "regulars" though (maybe semi-regulars) because like most fad diets, they would stick to it for a month, maybe two, then go across the street to the McDonalds again. It was a contant rotation. The same people would come for a few months, then be gone, then a new group of semi regulars would come in to try their luck at it. That went on for a couple years.

Do you have a regular order at your favorite places? I am not necessarily talking about fast food places. Many people do not do fast food at all. But any place you frequent? I do. For every place we go to get food, I have 2 or 3 dishes that I rotate through. And it's because I like them and am not really interested in trying the other dishes. I do not consider myself picky, but at this point I am just not interested in wasting calories on something I am not sure that I like.

If I do get the thought to try something new, I will get both the new meal AND my regular meal, just in case. That way I either have another meal (if the new one is good) or at least I know I have the food I like if the new one sucks. That is important, as most of the time if I get takeout, it is on my way to work. Once I get to work, I cannot leave to go get food or anything else. I am there for the full 12 hour shift. So it would be a bad idea to just try something new willy nilly, then be stuck hungry for the whole night. I learned that the hard way. I do not typically care for Asian food. Or at least, westernized asian food. I cannot claim to have had the authentic experience. But one day, I got the idea in my head to get some beef and broccoli from a local place on my way to work, because I was low carbing and it sounded and looked good. Big mistake. The sauce was SICKLY sweet, something I have since been told is common in such dishes. Yuck. I HATE when food that is supposed to be savory(like meat and most veggies) ends up covered in sugary sauce or seasoning. HATE it. I gave it to one of my truck drivers and sulked the rest of the night.

There is a local Mexican place I used to order from about once a week on my way to work. I always order online. One time, I ordered a meal for my SO to pick up on his way home, he gets something totally different than i would, and they CALLED ME to ask if I had made a mistake. 😄 Customer service at its FINEST! HA!

I do enjoy trying new places to eat and finding my go to dish from said place, so I am not a total loss. How about you?

Featured Answer

wildchild2x2

8 months ago

Back in the 80s I went to weight watchers to get rid of the "baby fat" I'd held on to for too many years post partum. Back then WW still promoted regular food that we tracked by portion and food groups. I would stop at Subway once or twice a week for a 6" turkey with cheese on white , extra veggies and no mayo or oil. It was filling and easy to track. I still remember running into a woman I knew wo congratulated me on how great I was looking and then immediately remarked that I wasn't going to stay that thin if I ate "like that". LOL Yeah rude.

I eat out a lot since my daily schedule is so erratic. I have my favorites, usually 2 or 3 items, at different spots but I will try something new I see on special or whatever. But I have my French dip place, my calamari steak place, my hot roast beef or turkey sandwich place etc. It's harder to find favorites now that most mom and pop places are gone and food has become so generic.

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Comments (14)

Annie Deighnaugh
8 months ago
Mom made my lunches during my school years, and I have no idea how many of those were pb&j on white bread....years and years. Once in awhile I'd splurge and get the Friday pizza from the cafeteria. Once in awhile in the fall, I'd bring tomato sandwich on white. But the vast majority was pb&j.
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Kendrah
8 months ago
My mom has a friend who eats the same meals on the same days of the week every week. Monday beef, Tuesday chicken, Wed fish, and so on. Even if she goes out to eat, she orders the food that she would make at home on that day of the week. She says it is just easier than thinking about what to eat.
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seagrass_gw Cape Cod
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Such a timely topic, amylou! A few hours ago I went online to check the menu of the restaurant we are going to for our anniversary tomorrow night and was thinking to myself how navigating a menu feels like a minefield at this point in my life. I was left with a strong intolerance for any kind of smoked food after going through chemo for breast cancer and the aversion has persisted now for over 15 years.

My last bout of covid two years ago left me with an impaired sense of taste and there are things that are very unpleasant I just have to avoid - mostly tart/sour flavors including citrus and most vinegars and vinegary things, even mustard and ketchup. It's somewhat embarassing and very frustrating to have to dissect each menu item. DH gets frustrated with me sometimes, but he does understand.

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lily316
8 months ago
As a child who, for two years, had to have my lunch packed by my mom. I requested egg salad sandwiches, which she made with chopped-up celery. I told that I did not like celery in my sandwiches and always picked the pieces out. Did that make a difference? No, she kept the celery, and I kept removing every last piece for two years!
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OutsidePlaying
8 months ago
I will eat almost any food, however there are some I like much better than others. One in particular is chickpeas. I love hummus but cannot stand to eat chickpeas in any other form. I have tried many times…in soups, salads, etc but just cannot.

I was chatting with someone recently who told me she had a change in taste for some things after heavy anesthesia for a knee replacement. I had never heard of that reaction, but maybe it’s a thing too, like how Covid affected the tastebuds of some people.

I do find myself ordering the same items a lot in some of our favorite restaurants. I try to branch out and order a different item when I catch myself doing it more than a couple of times.
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Fun2BHere
8 months ago
Since I've been watching my carb intake closely, I've mostly stopped going to restaurants. When I do, I always order a plain grilled piece of fish with a side of the lowest carb vegetable they offer. Boring, but easy to keep me on track.

At the grocery store, I buy exactly the same things every week, heads of green cabbage and boneless, skinless chicken breasts. I also try to keep eggs, canned tuna and mozzarella cheese on hand to introduce some variety.

I love all types of food and do miss ethnic options and pizza, but all of those are on hold for now.
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rob333 (zone 7b)
8 months ago
last modified: 8 months ago
I don't get the same meal everywhere I go, so I can consider it variety. I get the same sushi at the sushi place, but I get the same meal in the cafeteria at work, which might be teriyaki chicken, or one fried chicken leg and one fried chicken thigh. I always get the Kung Pao chicken at the Chinese place. I always get the cheeseburger pizza at the pizza place... I think I agree with always getting the same thing that I know I like, rather than risking something different.

This part of my answer may be different than anybody else's: I get a decaf mocha everyday. There may be 50 to 100 drinks at Starbucks but I'm always going to get a decaf mocha, everyday. I grew up living so many places, seeing so many different people, that I like a little "stability". It's the same, everyday, everywhere. I can get it in Disney World, the Atlanta airport, on my block, and it will always be the same. Same reason we have fast food chains that are the same from place to place. Something you can count on.
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Olychick
8 months ago
last modified: 8 months ago
I have my favorite restaurants and my favorite dishes at those restaurants. I don't really eat out at place where I dont LOVE the food, or places that I don't check the menu online to see if I want to eat there. That said, I usually default to something on their menus that I cannot or will not cook at home. Like I would never order steak or a fish filet, but I might order fish and chips because I don't really fry things at home. I used to always order scallops but our fish market has two kinds of really fresh scallops, so I've learned to cook them at home and never order them when I go out anymore. I might order prime rib because I don't make that at home. If I find Geoduck or Calamari steak on a menu, I would order that without a second glance at the menu.

I have my favorite dishes at Thai and Vietnamese restaurants here and don't really vary when I order. I do try different things at Mexican restaurants, but once I find something really delicious, I have a hard time ordering something different on the menu. Altho I love pasta and we have a few really great Italian restaurants here that make their own pasta, I only order something that I wouldn't fix at home....no red sauce or clam sauce for me because I can and do make those at home. I'd choose something like a lobster ravioli or a pumpkin/squash ravioli, or some other filling that sounds good - I never make fresh ravioli any more, tho I used to. I always order the same pizza, regardless of the restaurant, take out or delivery only, I never go to a restaurant for pizza. A vegetarian pizza with extra veggies and cashews and Italian sausage, lol. No longer vegetarian!
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Olychick
8 months ago
@seagrass_gw Cape Cod wrote: "I've coached myself to say "I don't enjoy eating that" instead of 'I don't like that'." I entertained quite a few of my grandson's friends for playdates when he was in grade school. For the most part they were easy to cook for, my grandson being the fussiest of them all. But one little girl who was his closest friend would say, "I don't prefer that," when offered food she didn't like. I just loved that she'd been taught to say that instead of "I don't like that."
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arcy_gw
8 months ago
"I don't prefer that," As an adult gifting a child a snack I would find that hugely more insulting than "I don't like that". People are not in control of their dietary likes necessarily. Tastebuds and familiarity with certain foods can run the gammot. A child not liking tuna I can 100 % understand. I don't want to eat what I don't like either! To tell someone I prefer steak to the hamburger they offer is an affront!! For a child to tell me she would prefer I offer her something else, would irk me greatly. It's perfectly reasonable to ask someone to eat what's offered even if they would rather eat______. To ask them to eat something they truly dislike is unkind. Much better to teach them to say 'no thank you' and just NOT EAT would be the most polite. We do not owe people explanations for our NO.
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bpath
8 months ago
Sometimes, going out means I get to have a favorite that I can’t or don’t make at home, and no other restaurant makes it the way I like. So, I think I said in the soup thread, I love Panera’s cream of chicken and wild rice, and it’s what I always get. At our Nepalese/Tibetan/Indian restaurant, there is a dish I really like that I don’t see anywhere else, and I always order that, along with of course other dishes. (and at a Japanese restaurant we’ve been to a few times, the last time I considered a particular dish. DS’s GF reminded me ”I think you didn’t care for that last time.” She was right, I actually couldn’t eat more than a few bites. Thank goodness she paid attention. I ordered something else and was happy with it.) I’m not picky, but if I can have a favorite, then I do.

But, I don’t think there is any place I frequent enough to have the staff consider it my usual.

There have been other threads about picky eaters and kids etc, so I won’t touch that.
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lily316
8 months ago
Only at one restaurant do I always order exactly the same thing. That is Longhorn Steak, which friends laugh when I go there saying you haven't eaten meat in 45 years. True, but they have the best Parmesan crusted chicken with great chopped salad and a huge baked potato with all the trimmings. At other restaurants, which are almost all Asian or Italian, I chose different things on the menu.
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Elmer J Fudd
8 months ago
I think it's wrong to expect royal family level enunciation or formal phrases or word choices from kids. When I heard such things over the years, I could only imagine the poor kids being brow-beaten by parents who had misplaced priorities.

Kids need to be taught to be polite, flexible, to be appreciative and accommodating, and to say please and thank you. Oral erudition can wait until later in life.

Remember the Eddy Haskell character on Leave It To Beaver? That's what unnecessary non kid-like speaking sounds like when coming from a kid.
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Food Floof! The usual?

wildchild2x2

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