One evening last week I had a sudden urge for a meal from Boston Market. What drew me there was not the chicken, but one of their seasonal side dishes. During the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas they serve whipped sweet potatoes with a marshmallow topping. This is one of the dishes that my family has served during these holidays for as long as I can remember. So since they began serving this dish last year at Boston Market, I go there several times during the holiday season just for that side dish.

Apparently I'm not the only person who has discovered this sweet potato souffle, because when I went to buy this dish for me and my family, everybody in the line in front of me was ordering the same dish. Wouldn't you know it, that by the time the server asked for my order all of the sweet potato souffle was gone.

When I placed my order I asked her how long it would be before another tray of this dish would be ready to serve, and she looked at me with the saddest eyes and said, "It will be ten minutes." Upon saying that, she assumed that I would choose another side dish and make my way into the darkening evening. Instead, I asked her if there might not be another option, namely that I just sit down at one of the tables and wait ten minutes until the fresh tray of sweet potatoes came out from the kitchen. After all, the only reason I came to that restaurant was to order sweet potatoes. That was what I wanted.

The question before us as I stood in that line was whether I would accept something else as an alternative since what I really wanted was not ready at that precise moment. That seems to be the principle behind fast food, whether one is ordering chicken, or sandwiches or fish. They call it fast food, because you do not have to wait for it. The food is ready when you are. Basic to the idea of fast food is that you do not have to wait, at least not for ten minutes. Nevertheless, there may come a time when what you want is not ready when you want it, and you will have to decide what to do. There are only a few options available to you. One option is to get mad and leave the store, fussing as you go out the door. Another option is to order something else, even if that was not your first choice. A third option, and this was my option on that evening, is to sit down and wait for what you really want.

This may not be your option everyday and for everything. But sometimes you encounter those moments when you do not mind waiting for what you want.

I cannot tell you how shocked this lady was at my decision to just wait. She said to me with the most quizzical voice, "You mean you're going to sit in here and wait for a whole ten minutes? You must really want those sweet potatoes." The fact is, I did want that dish and ten minutes did not seem like too long to wait for what I really wanted. As it happened, it took twelve minutes for a fresh tray to come out from the kitchen. But as soon as it came out I bought two side dishes and a large container as well, and went home to enjoy my dinner down to the last bite of that sweet potato souffle. I could have ordered mashed potatoes instead or I could have gone someplace else instead, and maybe I would have gotten home a little sooner. But I waited for what I wanted, and I'm glad I did.