Selective Vision

Some people are lucky enough to have selective hearing - they hear only what they want, when they want to.  Is someone saying something unpleasant?  Tune them out!  Don't like the topic of conversation?  Feel free to ignore me!  I have a sneaking suspicion that these people lead quiet peaceful lives.  They might be missing key information, and pissing off their friends and family in the process, but hey, we all make sacrifices. 

I, in the interest of also leading a peaceful, blissfully ignorant life, have begun to hone my selective vision skills. 

Let me elaborate. 

Over the last year and a half or so (might be a little more or less), restaurants have begun listing the nutrition information next to items on a menu.  No, not a separate list of nutrition information (which I've been actively ignoring for years).  Instead, right next to the item on the actual menu, there is a delightful inclusion of calories for that item (and in some cases they feel the need to include fat, sodium, and carbohydrates). 

Talk about sucking the fun out of eating in restaurants!  What once was a source of excitement and pleasure has become an exercise in cleverly avoiding the strategically placed numbers next to my favorite menu items.

Now, rather than order my favorite foods with my mouth watering in anticipation, I feel like I should say "Hi, I'd like the Fiesta Lime Chicken with a side of cellulite", or "I'll try the Honey Crisp Chicken Salad with a cardiogram to follow."  Why can't I just order my food, eat the food, and worry about the caloric ramifications later?

Gone are the days of being able to go to a restaurant and enjoy your food without much consideration for the damage it was doing to your waistline.  Soon to be forgotten is the personal responsibility that we exercise in deciding whether or not to open the evil booklet containing nutrition information at a restaurant.

Is it a conspiracy to permanently destroy the enjoyment of eating in restaurants?  Are they out to get those of us who indulge in food prepared by others?

In any case, I will show them - I'll continue to work on my selective vision techniques, learning to, over time, to ignore those pesky little numbers (however high or low) and just enjoy my food!