Looking at restaurant menus and thinking “Too many options.”
LOOKING AT RESTAURANT MENUS AND THINKING “TOO MANY OPTIONS.” Follow for more reflections on the unique journey we share.
Remember those dining hall days? The comforting, often chaotic, hub of campus life. It wasn't always Michelin-star dining, but it was ours. From the early morning scramble for lukewarm coffee to the midnight snack raids fueled by impending deadlines, the cafeteria was the backdrop for countless stories. We debated grand theories over questionable mystery meat, forged lifelong friendships amidst the clatter of trays, and learned the art of balancing a textbook, a plate, and a strong opinion. There were the minor mishaps – the spilled soda, the forgotten meal card – all part of the shared tapestry of our university experience.
Now, years later, some of us find ourselves staring at a beautifully designed, overwhelmingly extensive restaurant menu. A dozen appetizers, twenty main courses, artisanal sides... and a sudden, strange longing for the simplicity of "chicken or pasta?" That feeling, where the sheer freedom of choice feels less like liberation and more like decision paralysis, often brings us back to the comfortingly constrained world of our college cafeterias. The decisions were simpler then, allowing our minds to grapple with complex theories and future ambitions instead of whether to get the truffle fries or the calamari.
Perhaps it’s not just about the food, but the echo of a time when our paths, though challenging, felt a little more defined, a little less open-ended. Those cafeteria chronicles, messy and mundane as they were, shaped us. They remind us of where we started, before the world presented us with an entire menu of choices, and sometimes, too many options.