First off, I'm a grown-ass adult and I can eat what I want. Secondly, earlier this year - before the pandemic started - I found this pack of ramen noodles at my local grocer: Lotus Foods Rice Ramen Forbidden Rice. Go ahead, click the link, I'll wait...
You back? So I tried these noodles, added some tofu and sriracha mayo, and was in love. I've now had this for lunch almost every day during the pandemic. By the way, #unpopularopinion: I drain my ramen. I don't enjoy thin broth, sorry 'bout it. Neither here nor there - just in case you're wondering about the sriracha mayo thing.
OK, there were a few days where I had leftovers, went out for lunch, etc. Semantics! So what does this say about me?
Does it mean I like consistency or efficiency? I hate doing extra work for no reason. Too much time thinking about what I want, too much time buying all the right ingredients - half of it goes bad because you didn't eat it fast enough. Having to spend my Sunday afternoon pre-making meals for the week? No thanks. Pass me the clickah - I'll deal with it later.
Am I cheap? Or do I just like using chopsticks? I can be cheap about some things - but not food. And I do like using my nice wooden chopsticks.
It felt a little college student-ish at first. At the beginning of the pandemic everything felt weird. OK cool, I'm working from home, let me set up my office, get a routine like I do at work, and we'll be back to normal soon. We all know what happened next.
The existential dread of this crisis hit and we figured out ways to cope. Weekly Zoom meetings with team members, "happy hours", staff meetings where we talked about what "color" we felt. They helped for a bit to say OK, I'm not the only one feeling like this. But it didn't really help to have half-hearted conversations with coworkers about your current level of existential angst.
I assume if you're still reading then you have had some of the same feelings. If you are somehow completely unaffected by the pandemic (looking at you, Bezos) or believe it's the work of high-level officials, then bugger off - this ain't about you. It's about those of us who desperately search for something to brighten our days.
As things never got better, we struggled to maintain routine. It was easy to wake up later, make excuses to drink more, exercise less... But I kept eating ramen noodles. As an Operations Manager, my job was important and people counted on me to show up so I needed a routine. I still got up at 7am, started by 8, ate lunch at noon, and was done by 4:30 or 5.
I'd do the same thing every day: go to the kitchen at noon, boil water, press the tofu and pan-fry it, drain the noodles, add the sriracha mayo (and Furikake which is like Asian everything bagel), and eat. The sriracha always makes my nose run and I'd have to blow my nose a couple times. Put the pans, bowl, and chopsticks in the sink - rinse and repeat the next day. 30 minutes beginning to end and I could go back to work.
Before the pandemic I was the same way. I'd usually hit the kitchen at noon, sit at the community counter, and enjoy my lunch for a good while. I was a regular in the kitchen and people would say hello in passing or sit & chat. I'd scroll Reddit or Medium articles, passing along some news, funnies, or insight.
So what does eating ramen every day say about me? I'm using this blog to make fun of myself for my habit, but in the words of the wise Dr. Percival Ulysses Cox,
I don't do it because it's funny, I do it to get by.
I think the ridiculousness of eating the same meal over and over and making fun of it helps me to cope with a world around me which seems to be completely unable to deal with itself. The same way I scroll r/wholesomememes and r/dadjokes looking for something to laugh at or joke about helps me get through.
Lest I be judged for looking down on anyone who has to eat ramen every day - it's not the ramen in and of itself, it's the fact that I am choosing to eat the same thing over and over because it makes me feel good. (I tried pickle, peanut butter, and mayo sandwiches for a bit but it didn't have the same effect)
Whatever you're doing that helps you maintain your routine, your consistency, that's what it is. It's a mechanism that helps you move forward. Keep doing it. Keep making fun of yourself. I'm going to go order another 48-pack of ramen.
If you want my coping recipe, feel free to hit me up. It's delicious. And easy :)
Props to @markuswinkler for the ramen cover photo
Also, consider buying from Lotus Foods - they partner with small-scale farmers, promoting less wasteful and more sustainable farming practices. www.lotusfoods.com/our-story
Comments