Reflections on the Bachelor Life, Pt. I

Today is the first day of my three months of living without my parents.

One of the first things to consider is food and food preparation. I general I like to eat well. Anton probably even more so. When we were in Fairmont we ate at the "Black Forest" restaurant, a rather nice, upscale German restaurant. I began with a tomato bisque for starters. Then I had the wiener schnitzel and schpatzlé for the main entrée and half-caraf of Chilean cabernet for a wine. I finished it with a cappuccino. Not a bad meal by any standard. But not something that one can make on a weekly basis.

There is a natural inclination when one is living on one's own to tend toward the cheap and fast. Tonight I eschewed my normal distaste for hot dogs and cooked some up beause I felt the need for some facsimile of meat in my meal. Also a pot of pasta and a can of Campbell's Cream of Mushroom soup makes for a decent dinner. Call it the "Kraft aesthetic."

However, Anton likes to cook, and I do as well to a lesser extent. When one has the time to cook it can be a form of entertainment; Ask anyone who was on our spring break trip. With a fully furnished kitchen, meal preparation became the focal point of the day. Not only did we save money, but we were treated to steak one night, and tacos another.

Another effect of cooking and the bachelor life is what I call a tendency to wastefulness. For example, I feel that because I have a dishwasher, why not just fill it up once a day and run it? For that matter, since it's all the same amount of work, why not use 2 spoons when one will suffice? Bread's a little stale? Into the garbage.

The importance of eating cannot be overlooked. But when you're suddenly forced to cook for oneself on a regular basis (something this spoiled young man never had to deal with), standards are likely to slip.