To room service or not, that is the question

ROOM SERVICE PROS
I can put on my yoga pants and t'shirt and just relax - don't know about you but I never feel comfortable showing up in a hotel restaurant looking like I should be curled up on the couch or in the lotus position. And some times those suits and high heels MUST be taken off after a long day.

I can eat and watch TV. Growing up the only time this was ever allowed was when we were at my Aunt and Uncle's house on a Sunday nite and Walt Disney was on. Other than that, meals were always served at the table and absolutely no TV in the background either. Its nice to "cheat" and the TV in a strange way feels like company ... how sad is that!

Silence! I can not handle screeching children, women whinning and loud dominating men while I am trying to enjoy a meal and for some reason when I travel on business this is when I am always plagued with this and generally speaking, its always right at the next table! But the worse, the absolute worse is the diner who can not eat quietly and needs to slurp, crunch, chew and make noises no one should never have to hear coming from another human being. All of this is of course magnified when you are dining alone. The only noises you hear when you order room service are your own - oh, and they couple beside you are having the second fight that week! But, at least that is muffled and you can turn on the TV.

You don't look like you have no friends. This is the one everyone thinks about but I'm over it. I have never read more trashy paper back novels in my life than I have consumed over the last several years I have been on the road. Really, this dining alone thing is just a state of mind and the more we lift our heads and look around we will start to see that there are quite a few single diners out there just like us. A few weeks ago I was getting incredibly sick of the food at my hotel so I ventured out to a restaurant close by. Paper back novel and blackberry in hand, I picked up a magazine on route and walked into what seemed to be good place to enjoy a nice relaxing meal out. I settled into my table for one, had a long look at the menu - I was avoiding the book to early into the evening and decided I would save the magazine for back in the hotel room I made my choice. Waiting for my meal I started looking around and was shocked to see three other women dining by themselves and then I noticed two men on their own as well. Maybe there were 70 people in the restaurant that nite. OK, I admit it, I counted and all of the sudden I didn't feel like a total looser so I enjoyed the rest of the night out. I also made a point to walk by the three other women on their own on my way out and smile and say goodnight. Not as bad as I thought and only read a few pages of my book.

ROOM SERVICE CONS
Your room will never smell clean again. This is probably the worst for me. I can have as close to an odorless meal as possible and I still smell it for the rest of my stay. Can you tell the idea of breakfast in bed never goes over well with me? You got it - no food in the bedroom - every - accept when I am travelling on biz and I seem to break this rule - a lot. I have taken to carrying small scented candles with me which helps - sometimes.

How sad is that! It's bad enough eating alone in a restaurant - you have your book, your blackberry, the newspaper or worse comes to worse, the wine list just because you need to do something! Room service is depressing. From the time I speak to Bob who answers the phone in the "in room dining" department, who often knows my order before I even tell him lately, to the time I roll the cart out in the hall I feel like a the most lonely person on this earth. This pathetic person who doesn't want to go and eat alone in public but would rather sit and eat all alone behind the locked doors of the hotel room. There are times I just can not handle that feeling so I head out.

Never perfect - ever, OK rarely! And, if you want something done about it you will wait another 1/2 hour minimum. My beef lately is always ask for a jug of ice water with my meal - not a glass but a jug. I find hotel rooms incredibly dry so I find having a jug of water to drink throughout the evening helps. I've given up ordering hot water for my herbal tea - you might as well just run the tap because by the time you have finished eating and are ready for the tea - the water is warm at best. Oh, and you can almost guarantee that if you must have pepper on your salad, or ketchup for your fries its missing. Too cold, too bad. Too warm, so sad. Just deal with it.

You end up working all nite. Its true. Its early, you can't watch TV all night, you have a pile of work staring at you so you dive in and before you know it you are into this terrible habit of room service and endless hours of work. Its bad for your mental state. This was my life for well over the first month I was doing my weekly "commute" half way across the country. I was plowing through a ton of work but I also realized I was taking on work that others should have been doing just because I had time. Something was wrong with that picture. I still fall victim to this, I must admit but I am now aware of my bad habit and try to not to do it every night.