Authored by: Jason McCall, food lover and corporate worker
A Young Adult’s Culinary Habits
College was sweet. We rolled out of bed and headed straight to the university to satisfy our hunger. Now that we’ve graduated from college, we sometime get too caught up in everyday life to satisfy our most primal urge – to eat. We no longer have a choice to eat like the university’s buffet lines. We run to whatever is most convenient, and usually that means Dunkin Donuts of Starbucks.
Recently, I was told of a new trend by one of my friends and it is becoming my own habit -- online food ordering. Just like in college, we can now roll out of bed and (hear this) order food on the computer and it will be delivered to you, in your pajamas. Now I can take my time to decide what I want. In my neighborhood is a restaurant called Jade King Chinese Food that is online. There are pictures of the food items for me to choose from. I don’t have to talk to anyone to take my order anymore. The mouse does the talking. And I know the order is correct (and hence the information I give is correct) because it is in my order cart, as well as a confirmation email that tells me the order has been transmitted. I don’t know how the order gets to the restaurant (I think it’s a fax system). But I know the food is fast. One time I asked the new delivery man how he found this place so quickly (a lot of them have gotten lost) and he told me that the service they use to take online orders gives them the map of my address so that they can find it easily. Can you imagine that!
I don’t know about you, but I like to try different foods, but faced with a menu with about a hundred items, I usually end up getting Beef and Broccoli over rice. Now my restaurant menu on the internet offers pictures that help me to order and look at what I am ordering. In the future, technology may even help me smell it. The ordering cart tells me exactly how much I will spend – including tax! No more counting change with the delivery man. Just last week, I threw a party and ordered about $100 bucks in takeout in about two minutes without fuss: each of my buddies took turns ordering on the computer, and they can even customize each of their orders. The system allow for text input, so Tommy could have his sweet and sour pork without the sour. Try getting that correct over the phone.
Anyhow, after I finish this piece, I am going online to order some food from my online restaurants. I am just wondering why more restaurants are not doing this. And I am wondering why people are not using this. I mean, come on why would anyone bother with phones anymore. Even my grandma is using the internet to shop. Let me see, maybe I’ll try this Bird’s Nest special today!
