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T h e A d v e n t u r e s o f C h i c a g o J o

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The Cost of a Meal

2005-02-28� � 4:26 p.m.
After a couple years of eating an occasional lunch outside the office, I�ve become opposed to paying more than $3 for my mid-day meal.

When I don�t bring a can of soup or leftovers, I more than satisfy myself at Taco Bell for $2 and a little change and avoid any meat or dairy.

Besides my cheeseless and onionless bean burrito, the only other place I can really eat is this chain pizza place that dishes out a two-day�s-worth serving of spaghetti for a few bucks.

After not being able to break away for a meal of any kind until 4:00 today, I knew I�d need something bigger than usual to fulfill my hunger.

A big 6-inch sammich stuffed with all the veggies I love, without the cheese I can�t love from Subway was exactly what I wanted.

The sandwich alone is about $3. But after hours and hours of postponing my meal, I knew that the chips and the Diet (yuck!) Pepsi would be a needed go-with.

$5 for lunch.

$2 more than any reasonable lunch should cost.

What was I thinking?!

I bundled up and walked across the street to Subway. I walked the behind-the-counter guy through what I wanted. I steered the other behind-the-counter guy away from the mayo. And then I coughed up a fiver and a nickel�s worth of change over my meal�s amount.

When the cashier handed me $5.05 back, I was a bit confused. Having worked a cash register before, I didn�t want him to be significantly under when everything was counted. I tentatively asked, and he insisted that I gave him a $10.

I�m fairly certain that I didn�t have a ten. I remember giving Benito a ten to get us snacks at the mall yesterday as I ran to the bathroom. I also remember him returning a five to my wallet. I spent all the rest of my cash earlier that day, so the five would have been all that was left.

He insisted that I gave him a ten, and I wasn�t about to argue with him. I took my 11-cent meal and went back to the office.

It looks like I have a little leeway with my next few three-dollar meals.�



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