is saving the best for last an ideal strat?
okay so picture this: you’ve been formally invited to attend a royal feast at your king’s palace. you enter the dining hall, looking regal and fresh (feeling flyyyyyy okay girlllll), and get a whiff of the wonderful food that is being prepared in the basement kitchen. the kitchen is in the basement so that the guests of the king don’t see the slave labour that’s going down. anywho.
you’re sat in a ridiculously large dining chair at the head of a loooooong and rectangular mahogany table. it is beautifully decorated like a saccharine birthday cake for an only-child toddler’s third birthday: candles in all sizes, fruits of all kinds, you get the gist. it all seems rather gluttonous for the small guest list (the guest list being the king, the queen, you, batman, and prime minister justin trudeau).
a servant/maid person (i don’t know the proper terms for every member in a typical royal staff) brings out your plump, shiny, silver platter and places it in front of your face. oooh, the smell! yummy. your mouth begins to water. the lid is lifted and so is your spirit (well, your spirit was already lifted, but it’s soaring now)!
(okay, for this next part i’m going to narrate it based on my food preferences, because if i told you to picture asparagus on your plate – ewwwww! – and you liked asparagus, it wouldn’t hit the way i want it to. this is because food is subjective. i despise asparagus, but you may love it!)
anyways back to the plot. this is the content of your (my) plate: a hefty slice of steaming hot lasagna made by an enslaved nonna (or if you don’t like lasagna, freak, picture a major food item that you love like a burger or fish tacos. maybe i should have picked fish tacos.), soft and buttery garlic mashed potatoes (or if you don’t like mashed potatoes, another side item that you love), roasted and deliciously salted brussel sprouts (sigh, we’re doing this again. or if you don’t like brussel sprouts, picture a vegetable that you like), and finally a pile of soggy and stinky steamed asparagus (or if you love asparagus, picture a food item that you cannot stand no matter how many times you’ve tried it).
that was a mouthful! pun intended. okay so you’ve pictured your plate. ideally, the food on your plate that was listed out are in order of your preference from favourite to least favourite. you look up from your food, dazed, to lovingly gaze at your many lovers sitting around the excessively long table. oh, did i forget to mention? yes! you are in a loving relationship with the king, the queen, batman, and prime minister justin trudeau all at once! you guys truly are couple goals. they know that you don’t like asparagus, but it’s batman’s favourite so you’re going to have to suck it up. sorry…i keep getting distracted. this is a long story!
you are famished. you can definitely finish the whole plate in one sitting, that you are confident. since you (i) love lasagna so much, you decide to save it for last so that you can finish your romantic meal on a high note. that means starting off with your least favourite. you toy with your stinky asparagus and…regretfully…shove it in your mouth. GULP. nasty. but you do it with a smile for batman! isn’t he just so dreamy…
next is the brussel sprouts. you (i) actually like brussel sprouts, so this was easy. they were perfectly cooked: crispy on the outside yet tender on the inside, salty, and oily. mmmmmm! now for the mashed potatoes. creamy. buttery. garlicky. licky licky, you lick your lips. it was so delicious. you loved brussel sprouts and mashed potatoes, but you loved lasagna more. oh, how you were excited!
uh oh…houston we have a problem. you saved your favourite for last, but…your stomach…gah!!! your stomach was hurting! you delicately place a hand on your belly and feel your food baby growing. no more room for lasagna! this is the biggest disappointment ever, you were really looking forward to eating that lasagna last! now you have to finish your meal on a mediocre note, sighing grimfully like my mother when i would bring home my physics tests.
AAAAAAAND: SCENE! the moral of this story is: is saving the best for last truly the best strategy? in some circumstances, yes. for example: if you have a lot of homework to do, finish the harder ones first so that you can breeze through the easier one! however, when it comes to food, i think not. never let yourself get too full before you can eat nonna’s lasagna. plus, if you wait too long, it’ll get cold, and everyone knows that lasagna tastes its best when hot.
