Why we don't order pizza

The kitchen had been torn up for three weeks. I had exhausted my supply of easy meals to cook. We were feeling sick. The cupboard was essentially bare of groceries because the next day was shopping day.

Still, we scarcely had the nerve to consider the option. To understand how difficult this was for us, you would either have to be raised in a family where all food had to be organic and prepared from scratch, or in a family where all food had to be purchased at least fifty percent off. We had ordered pizza for meetings, yes, but just for us?

Anyway, it was dinner time and I was hungry. I tried to rouse DOB enough to ask him how I should proceed. Any pizza coupons we had ever had around were long since vanished. He suggested I look online. So I pulled up the websites of all the different chains and compared available coupons and menu options. Very bewildering, and hard to get DOB's feedback on what he wanted as he was still asleep.

I finally had a rough idea of what was available. The likely cheapest option was the kind of pizza we didn't like. Several had no prices on their website. DOB didn't think one could get the best deal that way anyway. So he arose, got out the phonebook and called all the pizza delivery places in town, asking them about potential prices (after pleading our desparate case), delivery times ("the kids are hungry"--never mind that neither of them can eat pizza), and crust options. He tracked all of these on a notepad. We also managed to negotiate a topping compromise.

By this time we were really, really hungry. Also we were out of water (our distiller quit some time ago). So DOB decided he would cut half an hour off the delivery time by going and picking up the pizza himself, while getting water. Only he got stuck in traffic coming home, so it may not have saved any time. And he forgot to ask for thin crust. Still, it was good and we were fed.

On the whole, though, I think it's easier just to cook. I suppose it would be much easier if we were in the habit of ordering out, but $14 just for dinner? Yeeouch.