I recommend you start out with reading Matthew Dicks\u2019 Facebook post from July 2, 2021. Matt is one of my storytelling gurus and has posted daily posts \u201cforever.\u201d This time he writes about how he and his wife\u2019s different eating habits mesh well with those of a few friends. Matt (and the female friend) like to order their own food without regard to whatever anybody else is having. They prefer to eat it without sharing with others. Matt\u2019s wife Elysha (and the male friend) like to order somewhat communally. \u201cIf you get the veal, I\u2019ll get the chicken and we\u2019ll share!\u201d When Matt and Elysha go out with these friends, everyone gets to eat the way each prefers, and all have a fine time. (Dicks lays out a third way to eat too. You\u2019ll have to read his post to find out what it is!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The post caused me to look at the way Bonnie and I order. It has nothing to do with any of the ways Matt laid out. It is probably a way that he has never considered. But I\u2019m willing to bet the farm that a number of the people who read my blog order in a similar way at least some of the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
You see, a high percentage of the meals we eat are paid for by casinos as a comp, which is short for complimentary. We get it by being players at the casino. Some of the comps are open-ended, meaning you can have whatever you want, but often they come with a specific dollar amount — say $30, $60, $100, $150, or any other amount. Each casino has its own rules for how comps are redeemed, but they are typically for one sitting and are \u201cyou pay if you go over. If your bill comes to less than the comp, you forfeit whatever is unspent.\u201d At some places sales taxes are waived. At others, sales taxes are not waived.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, let\u2019s say I have a $75 comp at a place where entrees range from $20 to $100, plus they have the usual assortment of appetizers, soups, salads, desserts — along with a wine list. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Almost always, after looking at the menu for a few minutes, Bonnie asks me what I am going to order. My answer is frequently, \u201cI don\u2019t know yet. You tell me what you\u2019re going to order, and I\u2019ll find something to use up the comp!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m not a gourmet. I have my preferences, but on any given night I could have chicken, fish, beef, or even vegetarian. Or sometimes just a salad. It\u2019s more about the company and the nourishment than the actual food.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If Bonnie decides she\u2019s going to have a $20 salad, I\u2019ll find something in the $50 range. If she wants a $40 salmon dinner, I\u2019ll find something in the $30 range. Whenever she asks if there is room on the comp for her to have xxxx, the answer is always yes. And then I adjust what I\u2019m having. Sometimes I\u2019ll have a fairly strong preference towards a particular entr\u00e9e and will suggest to Bonnie that if she has either yyyy or zzzz, we\u2019ll use up the comp completely. I don\u2019t do this very often, but when I do, she usually goes along with the suggestion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My basic assumption, very possibly not supported by empirical evidence, seems to be that for the same size tip, a $50 entr\u00e9e is \u201cbetter\u201d than a $30 entr\u00e9e. That assumption helps me make up my mind when otherwise I might have no idea of what to have for dinner! <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s not at all rare to have a waiter come up at the end of such a meal and exclaim, \u201cMy gosh, your comp is for $75 and you spent $74.75! I can\u2019t believe it.\u201d My usual response at such a moment is to ask the waiter, \u201cDo you have anything for 25\u00a2 or less?\u201d When the answer comes back in the negative, I tell the waiter that we\u2019re finished with the meal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sometimes it happens that Bonnie decides she\u2019s in the mood for coffee and\/or dessert after we\u2019ve finished the meal. Since this is a rarity, usually it means that I\u2019ve already arranged to spend at least $73 of the comp before she tells me this. So, we exceed the comp. It\u2019s not a disaster if we go over the $75, of course. We have funds. We can afford to pay retail for meals. Still, one way to make sure we have enough funds to always eat what we want is to let casinos buy us stuff and spend as little of our money on food as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Plus, it\u2019s part of the \u201cAdvantage Player\u201d mindset. I\u2019ll arrange my life to go to a casino at 3 a.m. or 4 p.m. or whenever else it\u2019s in my interest to be there to get the best deal. Getting the most out of food comps goes hand in hand with this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
People who don\u2019t play enough in casinos to get \u201cfree\u201d meals do not order this way. And to be sure, probably most people who get comps don\u2019t order this way either. But I\u2019m sure some do. I\u2019ve overheard plenty of conversations in casino restaurants to just this effect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bonnie and I have been married seven years and before she started going out with me, she had never eaten this way before. But, being naturally frugal, it made sense to her, and she adapted pretty quickly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Finally, a big part of Matt\u2019s original Facebook post was about sharing food during dinner. Bonnie and I don\u2019t usually share at the table — other than sometimes ordering one bowl of soup with two spoons as part of the meal. But as septuagenarians with diminished appetites, we often do not finish what we ordered. Doggie bags leaving a restaurant are the norm for us. And three times out of four, once the leftovers are in our refrigerator at home, I\u2019m the one who finishes off both meals over the next few days!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Author\u2019s note:\u00a0 If you\u2019re at all interested in the art of telling stories, or even being a good conversationalist, do yourself a favor and pick up a copy of Matthew Dicks\u2019 <\/em>Storyworthy: Engage, Teach, Persuade, and Change Your Life Through the Power of Storytelling.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I recommend you start out with reading Matthew Dicks\u2019 Facebook post from July 2, 2021. Matt is one of my storytelling gurus and has posted daily posts \u201cforever.\u201d This time he writes about how he and his wife\u2019s different eating habits mesh well with those of a few friends. Matt (and the female friend) like […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15763,"featured_media":6498,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"How I Order Food by Bob Dancer","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[558],"tags":[561,1037],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121859"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15763"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=121859"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121859\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=121859"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=121859"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=121859"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}