mbarker | The Last Bite

Mitsuko has been telling this to friends, or having me tell it, so I suppose it's okay to tell it to you.

During the new year holidays, we had spent the afternoon with friends and were coming home. On the way home, Mitsuko said, "Let's stop at the grocery store and buy sushi for dinner." So we stopped and picked up a mixed platter of sushi. Say 10 or 12 pieces, maybe?

When we got home, Mitsuko bustled around and said, "Wait, I'll make chawan mushi and salad." Chawan mushi is a steamed egg custard dish. I don't like it very much, but Mitsuko really likes it, so I put up with it. Anyway, I waited.

We sat down at the table and opened the sushi. Mitsuko took charge, "Here, you eat the salmon, and this one. I'll eat these, I like them." There were two tuna, so she said she would eat this one, and that one was mine. We started eating. The sushi went quickly.

But looking at the chawan mushi, I saved my piece of tuna sushi. Just let it sit on the platter. In my mind, that was going to be my treat for afterwards.

I turned to my custard. Worked through it. Cleaned up the salad, too.

Then I turned to my piece of tuna sushi ... and it was gone! "Where's my sushi?" Mitsuko looked at me and said, "Oh, did you want it?" I groaned. "Yes!" She shook her head. "But you always eat soup and salad last. So I thought you didn't want it." I sagged. "What? I was saving it."

"Well, it's your fault. If you wanted it, you should have eaten it."

I spluttered. "But, did you ask me?" She shrugged. "No, but I could tell. You always eat soup and salad after everything else, so if you didn't eat it, you must not have wanted it."

Argh... I think I learned a lesson. The problem with delayed gratification is that sometimes the carrot that you're saving disappears, especially if you aren't keeping an eye on it. Or to put it more simply -- don't save anything. Or if you do, hide it from your wife!