This will probably be the last original Foodie Friday post of this year (and decade!). I’m writing it whilst barreling north on a train. I’m a fan of train travel. Putting aside the environmental pluses, I think it’s more relaxing and more social than driving or taking the plane.
The train has a cafe car that offers up snacks, drinks, and food. The “food” consists of microwaved stuff – burgers, sausage and egg biscuits, wraps, etc. I think you can probably find most of the items at your local Costco or supermarket. The drinks are generally unhealthy sodas (yes there’s just water) and the snacks consist of candy bars and chips. It’s not the sort of stuff that you would choose if you had a choice, but when you’re on a 9-hour train trip you really don’t have much of one, which explains the line out the door.
Most of the time you would not catch me eating anything that’s offered here. Oh sure, I love me some sausage and egg on an English muffin, but I’ll usually have a multigrain muffin with plenty of fiber, not some white bread masquerading as a muffin. I might put some interesting cheese on mine and not the “cheese product” I’m sure is on this thing. Oh yes, of course, I had one. I’m hungry and they were out of the healthier options
The cafe car got me thinking about what sometimes happens in business. When businesspeople find themselves in an unusual circumstance they often will let their standards slide. I suspect they feel much as I do now – they solved the immediate issue (hunger in my case) but there is guilt and the knowledge that the “solution” they found might have created more problems than it solved.
If I had planned ahead, I’d have packed a decent snack and brought my own beverages. Money isn’t the issue – everything in the cafe car is reasonably priced (except the liquor – $8 for a drink? And I thought the airlines were committing skyway robbery!). The issue is solving my problem without lowering my standards. That takes planning. Is your business doing that?
Consult Keith 