From The Storyteller
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Hello, All: Sometimes I'm left amazed at how gifted our younger generations are. Enjoy, Doug
Skills “Are you hungry?”, me to Elaine while sitting in our car viewing a Sonic menu board. We hadn’t stopped at a Sonic in years, so more as a part of a running joke we pulled in for lunch. We sat in silence, awed by the huge number of food choices. Not being in the mood to decide deep cosmological questions like fries vs. onion-rings and grilled chicken vs. hamburger, I simply asked, “Are you hungry”? Her “No” did not surprise me, and we left without ordering. Being challenged by the Sonic menu board naturally caused me to consider how ordering at Pizza Hut has morphed from five words, “medium sausage, extra cheese, please” to decisions that start with “Thick or thin?”, and go on for what seems like forever. Listening to a young couple near us answer all those questions before they were asked was inspiring. Which leads me to share my Baskin Robbins dilemma. They offer 31 flavors, all of which I enjoy, however selecting the flavor that best fits my personal tastes for that day is tough. It requires a level of self-knowing that I don’t often have available. Is today a Butterscotch Ribbon day? This led to an observation: Restaurants are offering so many good menu options, that I find it a challenge to quickly search a menu looking for that “right” choice. I also observed the Gen Xers don’t experiencing the same difficulties, because they appear to know exactly what they want and how to order it quickly. This leaves me pondering whether they are gifted with special ordering skills, or in the alternative, do Elaine and I simply need to eat out more so that we can develop those skills through a disciplined practice of menu reading? Moral: Most of the time skill comes through practice. |