Great expectations diminished

I'm a hopeless romantic. I get excited over the smallest things and look forward to meeting friends at cafes for coffee and pastries days in advance. Those closest to me would say I have high expectations -- for myself and others. And too often I'm a wishful thinker who gets her hopes way up.

Today I was all of those things.

I was supposed to have lunch with colleagues and my predecessor. I didn't bring my own as a back-up, even as my gut told me when I walked out the door this morning that it might be wise to do so -- just in case. Minutes after I got to work, I got an e-mail that cancelled lunch.

I didn't have expectations for this lunch, but I began to think about what I would eat instead. I could walk home, find something in my pathetic cupboards and save money, but that's at least a 10-minute, one-way trip. Too much work. I started fantasizing about Chinese food, the cheap mall kind. A quick Yahoo search showed there was a fast-food Chinese joint about five (long!) blocks away, which was sadly around the same distance from work as my apartment is. This should have been my first hint that these great expectations for amazing Chinese food might not be worth all the trouble.

Around 1:30, I marched to Panda Cafe, located in the Old Post Office building. Instead of just walking up to the counter, I first had to go through security to get into the building. Security for sesame chicken! It took 30 seconds, and Chinese food is oh so good. I ordered the two-entree platter (I was going to save half for supper), which was only $5.50 including tax -- a mega deal for food in Washington.
I didn't give into my urge to sit down and eat right away. Instead, I walked the five or so blocks back to work, where I would savor every bite. But the first bite wasn't so good. The sesame chicken didn't really taste like sesame chicken. It was more like orange chicken, but the sauce was thick and had a slight wine flavor. And I discovered during the fourth or fifth bite that the food was a little cold. Isn't this stuff usually factory made? How can you screw up sesame chicken?

I didn't save the second half for supper. Instead, I had a bowl of Total.

Lesson of the day: Don't get too excited about fast-food Chinese.