Appalling

So I treated myself to Chili's on my lunch hour today to celebrate exactly one year divorced. It takes courage to dine alone in most restaurants, especially the Chili's type where it's nothing but couples, men in suits, and groups of female co-workers.

Hoping not to look pitiful, I clung to cell phone checking email and then read their "reserve a room for your group" brochure as if I'm going to plan a party there. When you are deaf, or deafened as in my case, you have to learn to be comfortable just yourself because when that wall of deafness drops dividing your life between once hearing and now deaf, you almost inevitably feel alone even when in groups of friends. For me though, I've always welcomed some peaceful time to just be by myself and think about things, make to-do list, people watch, or read a book. Anyway, so there I was comfortable and enjoying a steak fajita lunch. I picked Chili's because they are low on the MSG totem pole according to a few websites. Unless NO OTHER CHOICE I avoid fast food places now due to their MSG and partially hydrogenated soybean oil in everything. Having been rushed out the door this morning I skipped my morning coffee, and yes, that's black coffee only IE no sugar. SO what the heck I think, I order a cup of coffee for a pick-me-up. The waitress brings it and asks if I want cream. I say, "Yes please." I had no plans of putting sugar in my coffee but thought a little half n' half would be a nice treat. I have no qualms with using full fat dairy, my main thing is I prefer organic (or heaven forbid raw) and that's never available in restaurants. I reach for the little cream containers and notice they are not half n' half but a 'non-dairy creamer' An oxymoron IMO. I am disgusted to read the ingredients which were:

water, partially hydrogenated soybean oil, corn syrup, corn syrup solids, sodium caseinate, dipotassium phosphate, mono and diglycerides, sodium stearoyl, artificial flavors.

It's hard to imagine how they even get all those chemicals into a thimble size container much less how 'they' came up with the idea to combine such cancer / disease causing chemicals and market it as fit for human consumption and reputable restaurant chains serve it! No doubt it was a bunch of chemist, not chef's, who came up with that concoction. I feel sorry for the people, and that's the majority, who blindly eat whatever is served thinking if its sold in stores or served in restaurants it must be okay.

This may or may not stop me from eating at Chili's again, my fajitas were delicious. The perfect high protein low carb lunch for PMS day #2. I didn't have time or the desire to ask the waitress if they had any real cream, so I paid the check, got up to leave, and tossed the 'reserve a room for your group' brochure in the garbage as I walked out the door.