As I sat eating some potato chips off my sandwich plate this evening, I observed a curious phenomenon. And while I tell this story from only my own experience, I have collaborated with other quirky friends who concur that I am not alone in my habit. So here goes.
I noticed that, when given a portion of potato chips, all visible and available for consumption, I always choose the better-looking chip to eat first, thinking that I wouldn’t dare eat those nasty-looking ones. By “better” I mean the chips that aren’t transparent with oil. In a self-righteous attempt to convert the truly unhealthy nutritional value of potato chips into an edifying, “it’s full of potato,” attitude, I have myself think that the opaque chips aren’t going to lead to coronary artery disease nearly as quickly as the clear ones. And that might be true; the oily chips probably do contain much more unhealthy fats, and I might be marginally justified in my reasoning. So there I sit, eating only the “good” chips, one at a time.
But the funny part is, by the end of the meal, they’re all gone. By comparing each chip Read the rest of this entry »