One (of many) skill(s) I am apparently lacking is the ability to correctly judge how much food others can or will eat. Every time I buy or prepare food for others, things go horribly wrong. And, due to my own issues with food, I consistantly buy too much food instead of too little.

Scenario #1: This year was our year to bring doughnuts to garage sale day. A quick head count revealed 10 people: Dad, Mom, Jack, Doug, Linda, Griffin, Susan, Griffin, Mason, Morgan, and myself. That’s 3 kids (Griffin, Mason and Morgan) and 7 adults. In addition to those 10 people, our old next door neighbor typically has a garage sale and has help from her sons and grandchildren.

Rob’s Reality: For 10 people, a dozen doughnuts is not enough. I don’t know how many doughnuts people can eat. Back in the day (pre-surgery) I would limit myself to two if being polite. I could easily I buy doughnuts a dozen at a time; that means 2 dozen, plus a third dozen for the neighbor.

Actual Reality: Our neighbor had a garage sale on her own — no kids or grandkids showed up. She wanted one doughnut; that put me up +11. Out of the other 24, I think there were about 9 left over. Ultimately I bought 36 doughnuts, and tossed 20.

Scenario #2: I am meeting with 3 other guys here at work this week. Wednesday morning I decided to be nice, and pick up breakfast at Sonic.

Rob’s Reality: 4 people x 2 breakfast burritos per person = 8 burritos.

Actual Reality: Johnny called in sick, putting me up 2 burritos. Curlen, another team member, doesn’t eat eggs. That’s another 2. Ellston only wanted one, and I only ate one as well. I ended up giving one to Carol, and the remaining five to Tim, who redistributed them throughout the basement.

Scenario #3: For the last day of CLEET class, I was responsible for bringing pizza.

Rob’s Reality: The old “buffet” rule was 2 people per pizza. We had 12 people in class, so I bought six pizzas.

Actual Reality: 3 pizzas went into the trash.

I’m having a gaming party at my house April 26th. I’m letting Susan handle the food.