From time to time, Cliff or I have to stay late at work. On this particular evening, I found myself with no spouse, late in the evening and deathly hungry. Yes, I could have made that stir fry I had thought this morning I would make for us this evening, but the effort seems unwarranted for one. Not only do I find myself without a companion, but it also seems to be the apex of an anti-social moment. I would order food, but heaven forbid I leave the apartment. Its cold outside anyway. I could call and order somewhere, but I really don't want to repeat myself five times to the person at the shop that “speaks” English with an accent from the country suggested by their menu. It was then, at the height of my hunger and hermit-ness, I saw it. I had been absent mindedly flipping through the stack of restaurant menus that had been slid under our apartment door and there were the words: Order Online.

Of course I had heard of it before, but there on the page the text seemed to be hallowed in a gilded gold, beckoning me by singing: You won't have to talk to anyone! They like your credit card! The order site had a drop down menu that asked if you would rather call in your credit card number? Identity theft, security; who cares when the point of ordering on line is not to talk to anyone. Anyway, I believe the clearly written Chinglish and characters promising the site is "security tested" daily.

And it came. Not even fifteen minutes later. So now, I have a new religion---of the palette. I will only order from places that let me order online!!! or perhaps I will just keep a couple sites in the neighborhood tabbed in case another painfully introverted moment hits at 10pm.