Seasons 52

Today I had a business lunch at a restaurant in South Coast Plaza--a mall near my office.  The restaurant was called "Seasons 52."  The marketing point for the place is that they basically have a different menu every week and their fare is supposed to be seasonal, fresh, and healthy.

I've eaten there before and liked the food quite a bit.  Today, I chose the Mediterranean Mahi Mahi.  It was pretty good, it came with lemon, rice, and a lite cucumber sauce.  But it really wan't enough to fill me up...

For that I had been relying on some good bread to go with my meal.  Turns out, they don't have bread at Seasons 52 because another selling point of the place is that every entree is under 475 calories...

This is the Winter Menu...and you read that right--475 calories!

475 calories!  I'm a growing boy and I feel like that's really not enough to keep me fueled for a full day in the office.  I forgot the 475 calorie part--or maybe that's some new thing that they're doing.

Anyway, I'll have to remember that next time I eat at Seasons 52, I may want to think about ordering two separate dishes.  I'm sure I can afford it...calorie-wise at least!

Intuition

Nothing Lasts Forever?

I've always been confused by the Kardashians.  With the exception of Bruce Jenner, who at one time held the title of the World's Greatest Athlete, I'm pretty sure that the Kardashians have not really done anything to deserve their fame.  Being famous for being famous is not something that impresses me very much.

Anyway, I'm sure we've all heard that Kim and Kris, unlike diamonds, are not going to be forever.  They're going through the "Big D" after 72 days of wedded bliss.

What interested me is Kim's statement today that her "intuition" led her decision to go Splitsville.  

First, of all, if true, I'm not sure why she'd listen to her intuition now.  It obviously wasn't working too well about 2.5 months ago.  

Secondly, I'm pretty sure that she misused the word.  I hate it when people use words that they don't understand.  It's a pet peeve of mine.  

I took the liberty of looking up the word (thanks Google):

While I still think she misused the word, I do have to give her credit where credit is due.  Whatever Kim's instincts may have told her about her marriage, I am pretty sure that there was very little "conscious reasoning" involved in her decision.  Maybe she was right after all.

On Regret

One of my pet peeves is when people proudly declare that they have "no regrets."  I had a friend once who had made some poor choices.  She was suffering the natural consequences of those choices and it was painful.  And hard.  She knew it.  It was a difficult time for her as she struggled to process and adapt to the unhappy changes that those choices had brought to her life.

And yet she proudly told me that she did not regret any of her choices.  She told me that she needed to have made those choices and suffered what she was suffering to become the person she was.  I told her she was crazy.  And she was.  She would have been happier if she had made different choices.  And yet she clung stubbornly to her lack of expressed regret.

(I know it is trite to define a term and then give a discourse on it.  We've all done it for a Sacrament talk.  Probably when we had to speak in church as youth.  So with apologies...)

Regret is a feeling of sorrow or remorse for an action.  We should not allow ourselves to wallow in regret every time we make a mistake.  If we did this, we would quickly become depressed and lose all hope.  Not an "optimal outcome."

The scriptures, however, speak of a concept known as "godly sorrow."  President Ezra Taft Benson taught that godly sorrow can lead us to repentance.

President Benson elaborated: "Godly sorrow is a gift of the Spirit. It is a deep realization that our actions have offended our Father and our God. It is the sharp and keen awareness that our behavior caused the Savior, He who knew no sin, even the greatest of all, to endure agony and suffering. Our sins caused Him to bleed at every pore. This very real mental and spiritual anguish is what the scriptures refer to as having “a broken heart and a contrite spirit.” (See 3 Ne. 9:20; Moro. 6:2; D&C 20:37, 59:8; Ps. 34:18;Ps. 51:17; Isa. 57:15.) Such a spirit is the absolute prerequisite for true repentance."  ("A Mighty Change of Heart", First Presidency Message, Ensign, October 1989.)

I think what bugged me most about my friend's lack of regret was that it seemed like her attitude was preventing her from feeling godly sorrow and experiencing "this cool little thing called repentance."

I try to make decisions so that I can minimize any regrets in my life.  But I have plenty.  I regret certain choices that I have made, though I won't share them here.  These include regrets for things that I have done and things that I failed to do.  I am not a perfect person, but I'd like to think that I am trying.  And I am grateful for the gift of repentance to help me when I do make a mistake.

I haven't seen or talked to my friend for many years.  I hope she has overcome the consequences of the poor choices that she made.  I wonder if she still prides herself on having no regrets about any of her choices.  My sense is that if she truly has overcome those poor choices, it is because she has come to regret them.

Dear Car Rental Company...

Dear Car Rental Company--

Recently I rented a car from your company. The car worked well and I had a jolly good time enjoying the freedom of the open roads. But that's not the reason for this note. I am writing to thank you so much for your nice letter that I received today informing me about my recent alleged toll road violation. (I say "alleged" because I've watched enough Law & Order episodes to know that generally an individual is presumed innocent until proven guilty--even for traffic tickets.)

I know that the fines for these types of toll road violations can be quite pricey and I thought it was very considerate of you to go to the trouble to contract with an outside company that would give us this type of courteous reminder. I also thought that it was very customer-serviced oriented of you to use your superior purchasing power and leverage in the marketplace to negotiate with the toll roads to reduce the fine to a mere $30. Sometimes the fines can be more than double that amount. And finally, I thought it was very patriotic of you to take on the responsibility of conveniently billing me to make sure that the fine owed to this quasi-governmental agency (i.e. the toll roads) was paid promptly.

Then I read the fine print in your letter and realized that the $30 was merely to cover the "administrative processing fee" for all of the above convenient services. Apparently I'm still on my own to pay the fine, because the small print clearly explained that "The issuing authority may contact you regarding the violation separately." Oops! My bad...You're right, they probably wouldn't be contacting me to send me belated birthday wishes.

Fortunately, I already made arrangements to have the toll paid directly, so I hope you aren't still going to bill me for an administrative processing fee/reminder that I never asked for and never needed.

I do applaud your entrepreneurial spirit though and efforts to provide a badly needed service for your loyal customers in these tough economic times. Best of luck to you in the future!

Sincerely,

Another Satisfied Customer