“Where should we go out for lunch?” “Uh…….”

This is the dreaded question asked almost every Sunday after church.

It shouldn’t be that hard of a question. I mean it’s just a simple question about food, right? And yet somehow it is.

Almost 98% of the time, no one knows where they want to go out to eat. Despite the fact that we’re located in an area that is filled with many different types of restaurants, we always have trouble deciding where to go.

No matter what someone suggests, there is at least one person who has an allergy, doesn’t like any of the food, or fears trying something new. Sometime the lack of a cohesive answer has made many a person just be like “I give up, I’m out of here.”

I never bother to offer up suggestions of where I’d like to eat. Why? Because you can’t please everyone.

Personally I believe that secretly everyone has their own opinion of where they would like to really go. I think that anytime someone says “I don’t know” or “I’m good with anything”, inside they really know where they want to go but don’t want to say because they think they will get shot down.

I like to think that it’s because of the group mentality that makes us act like this. Are we trying to think about whether other people will like what we like and worry that if they don’t, it’s a reflection of us?

Do you worry that someone will do this with the place you picked?

Or when faced with a spur of the moment decision, our mind goes blank and we can’t think of anything?

It’s also hard to branch out into something new. Which is why you get stuck going to the same generic chain food places over and over again.

I don’t really know if there is a solution to this other than just being bold and suggesting something. You have to be insistent and louder if you really want something to happen. And if people don’t like it? That’s on them not you.

Smaller groups help vs larger groups. Also you can also just predetermine this in advance to avoid all the standing around trying to make a decision. Worst case scenario? Go on your own. Sometimes food > company.

But still sometimes you just suck it up because you want to be around people. You can get better food on another day. You can’t always find good company to hang around. Because at this point, you’re just so hungry you’ll eat anything.