I’m wrapping up the last of the trips I’d planned for the last several weeks. Two were pleasure – New Orleans in May and this trip up to see family and friends in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. One was business with that day of Disney included. I’ve enjoyed everything and spending time with people I love, but I’m ready to be home without travel for an extended period of time.
I had an evening flight last week so by the time I got to the airport, it was dinner time. Sadly, I’d screwed up and left my cheese wedges in my checked bag, so I got in a long line for one of the restaurants on the concourse. Standing in the slow moving line, I studied the posted menu. Famous hot dogs. Famous hot dogs with cheese. Famous hot dogs with cheese and chili. French fries plain or with the other toppings. Various burgers and cheeseburgers.
All stuff that, in the past, would have made me drool like a Pavlov dog. I could definitely be an adult with a teenage boy’s pallet and preferences. For a couple of seconds, my sensory memory stretched back in time and I thought of crunchy, greasy fries, gooey orangeish cheese, and artery-clogging, processed meat. My mind asked, “Just this once? What would it hurt?”
My stomach said, “Ewww. That shit’s gross.” I veered off to the refrigerated shelves and grabbed a container of yogurt instead. (I might have become a yogurt snob, by the way. While it was okay and a better choice than chili-cheese laden fries, it wasn’t the higher quality Greek yogurt and fruit to which I have become accustomed.) Sub-par yogurt or whatever, my stomach felt better, I felt more satisfied and, mentally, I could reinforce myself for making a good, healthy, appropriate eating choice instead of giving into a bad-food-choice impulse.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like I never eat a crispy fry, burger, or even a hot dog, but there are times and places when these are of better quality. A crowded airport restaurant probably isn’t that quality option.
Weighty Matters 
Greasy fries and bad burgers definitely fall under the umbrella of what I like to refer to as “wastes of empty calories.” :p