Is Your Omelet Half Full or Half Empty?
Monday morning I woke up feeling terribly depressed and hungry and decided to deal with both sensations by making an omelet. This decision didn’t necessarily come from an unbearable desire to eat an omelet, but was instead made because I’d run out of milk and therefore was unable to enjoy my usual morning bowl of cereal. I cracked open three eggs and beat them with a fork. Then I got to thinking: what could I put in it? I looked in the fridge. One carrot and some lettuce in a Tupperware container. I had hoped that there would be a few slices of ham or some cheese in the fridge. There were not. Nor were there any mushrooms, spinach, or tomatoes. In Asia, they typically put rice in an omelet. I didn’t have any rice either.
“I don’t have a single damn thing to put in this omelet,” I said to myself. I still made it anyways. In the end, I ate a plain omelet or, as some might call it, “eggs.”
Everyone has heard the question “Is the glass half full or half empty?” and understands what it means. It’s a quick personality test, a barometer for how one views the world. It deals with perception and how one’s outlook on life influences how he or she assesses or interprets things. After my barren breakfast, I propose a new question: “How full is your omelet?” If the glass question measures perception, my question measures functionality, or how well a person takes care of him or herself. Are you a person who can, on any day or at any time, make an omelet and have things to put in it? People who keep their refrigerators stocked and omelet ready would rank highly on my scale. They have created a comfortable world for themselves; they are mature, task oriented, and pragmatic. Conversely, are you, like me, a person who isn’t really sure of what supplies you’ve assembled? Do you think there might be ham when, in reality, you’re ham-less? Then you are a dreamer, a person who values the abstract over the fundamental, and you are probably slightly malnourished as well.
The omelet question is of great significance. Employers and dating websites can use it to evaluate potential matches. In a famous instance dating back centuries ago, Napoleon Bonaparte ordered an inn in France to create an enormous omelet to feed his army. What if they had nothing? What if they served Napoleon’s army scrambled eggs instead? Perhaps history would be different.
Or perhaps it wouldn’t be. More likely, the only one affected would be the innkeeper who was ordered to make the giant omelet. He would feel ashamed, his lack of preparation apparent in the redness of his cheeks, handing plates of eggs to the Grand Armee like it was of no more importance than a waiter serving a table of drunks at Denny’s.
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If an omlete can be a sign of depression, then what is scrambled? Or is that like poor people depressed?
I think it depends on what accompanies the scrambled eggs. If they are with bacon, then it can’t possibly be a sign of depression. However, lone scrambled eggs, much like an empty omelet, shows that maybe one has settled for their lot in life.
Peace Andrew! Keep on keeping on.
In my country, having or not having stock of food in the fridge is not a question of whether they/we are task oriented or organized. But the question lies whether or not we can afford to stock our fridge with food enough to last for a week. Most of the people here can only afford food to consume for the day.
Wow! First to comment…haha…by the way, I liked your perspective about the omelet. Maybe I can use it to reflect upon some aspects of my life.
Lastly, when we don’t have anything in the fridge to go with the omelet or eggs, we saute onion then tomatoes then we put the eggs…
True, the omelet question encompasses other things, such as social/economic background, culture, and refrigerator size. There are practical aspects. Maybe if I had more money, I’d have funds to channel into omelet preparation.
Always good hearing from you, Jepiner! Now go make yourself some food!
I think omelets have succumbed to the “chocolate chip cookie” phenomenon, wherein the eggs are merely a vehicle in which to put entirely too many fillings, much as chocolate chip cookies are an elaborate excuse to eat as much chocolate as possible and as little cookie. I realize that this is off the topic somewhat, but where else am i going to find a forum to whine about this stuff?
Haha – no, it’s right on topic. On one of the omelet websites I was on, it was talking about how the omelet is a real people’s food, a food of the proletariat. And thus I think you’ve hit on something with your cookie comparison – the extravagance with the fillings might be changing the once mild-mannered omelet into more of an upper-crust type gourmet dish. It’s becoming gluttonous. The omelet and the cookie need to get back to their roots.
Wow, I think it’s safe to say that I overthink stuff. Thanks for encouraging that, 1 Point. Go eat some cookies!
no cookies, scotch with an ice cube or two
The best omelets I make are the ones I ask servers to bring to me.
That rule pretty much works for everything I eat.
Crap, now I really want an omelet.
It just so happens that I have all the fixings! Which, for me, is ham cheese, onions, and green peppers. Mmmmm….
You have got it together girl. If I ever break into someone’s kitchen in the middle of the night with a ski mask on, I will make sure it’s yours. Does your home owner’s insurance cover stolen ham?
It might! lol
That picture made me want to stab myself in the eyes. I cannot imagine how ick that omelette would taste. Confusion city! I’m with you on the ‘damn I don’t have ham, cheese or onion’ thing. FYI if you had chucked the beaten eggs in the microwave with a little water (1tsp to 1 large egg) they’d have made lovely scrambled eggs
Hi Farce. Listen, I’m following a diet, and it says I am to eat an omelet. So even if it is realistically just scrambled eggs, I must make it in omelet form to follow the diet. That makes sense, right?
Always good to know you’re alive, lady!
LMAO! OK that makes sense. Maybe you could scramble the eggs with some flour, chocolate and milk then bake it in the oven and cover it with choc frosting??
x
That sounds disgusting. I’m going to defer to 1 Point Perspective and opt for a scotch, I think. : D
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Thanks! Appreciate the support, buddy!