Fast, expensive, food

Dominant thoughts today have revolved around the incongruences and opposite experiences of where I spend time and money. South Sudan, and others, I hope teach me an element of humility. However they also make me very critical of spending time on 'vacuous pursuits'. This makes me embarrassed to spend time thinking about colour schemes, sofa legs and dishwashers. I lived for two years in Cambodia with two rucksacks and left with no more than I went with, so what gives the urge at other times to spend valuable brainpower on the minutiae of domestic life? Logically I would say time is better spent working on the backlog of tasks for the refugee resettlement campaign or reading about current affairs. But I also know the rational response to this is to chill the hell out and enjoy a less intense week or two.

The UK doesn't always do things better than poorer, less 'developed' nations. It often costs a lot of money for underwhelming experiences and products, such as food at this Five Guys outlet in Cambridge. I'd have a bland plate of rice and beans with a piece of pineapple in South Sudan costing ten times less than a bland vegetable burger and overpriced milkshake. The scrum-like experience of collecting you order is perhaps supposed to be part of the brand, but if I want to jostle, mishear and end up with limp, colder food I'll frequent many an outlet in cheap parts of the world.

Perhaps I've missed the appeal of Five Guys but I'll be in no hurry to return.