The absolute best perk about living alone is dinner time.
Nope, I am not even lying. It's the truth. I never have to think about someone else's dietary needs, stomach schedule, or temperamental food choices. I can eat what I want when I want if I even want to eat at all.
It's pretty much amazing.
Some days I come home from work, and all I want is a plate of nachos with extra, extra, extra cheese, and I want it immediately. So, I have that plate of nachos. I'm not ruining anyone else's dinner because I live here, that is my dinner. If I want to eat at 4:00 in the afternoon or if I want to eat at 10:00 p.m., that's on me. If I feel like eating something else later, I can, and I will, because I don't have to answer to anyone.
If I want a frozen dinner, then I have that. By the way, there are some damn fine frozen meals out there that can be microwaved or cooked traditionally in the oven. I can pick something up as take-out, or plan ahead and do a crockpot meal. I can make a sandwich, if I feel like that, or sit at the table and scarf down a bowl of cereal with cold milk.
Nobody, absolutely no human for miles, is going to tell me that I can't. It's like being able to have my hand in the proverbial cookie jar all day every day.
The other evening I couldn't decide what to do with the cooked chicken in my fridge. It was all cut up and ready to be integrated into some fancy meal, and I had a multitude of choices for the evening's menu. But, I couldn't decide. I kind of wanted something with a kick to it, but I also kind of wanted comfort food.
Hey, that's okay. I live alone, and I have appliances in my kitchen!
I broke the chicken into two dishes, then I proceeded to make a chicken pasta with pesto in one dish, and then I made chicken cordon bleu casserole in the other dish. Then, much to my glee, I ate some of each recipe for the same meal . . . on . . . the . . . same . . . plate!
I know, right? Flipping amazing. Oh, sure, the peace and quiet is nice, and sitting down to read uninterrupted is spectacular, and no one fighting over the television makes for a smooth night. Yes, even with all the possible perks (not running out of hot water, no one fights me on the thermostat, the mail is always for me, etc.), the fact that dinner is an option not a chore has been the best possible perk.
It's rough being me, but someone's got to do it, especially when the dinner gong chimes.
