The author was invited to dine with some friends one evening in summer
at a hotel in New York, and the invitation concluded with "Menu _à la_
Fletcher."
The dinner was to be served in the sitting-room of my host, and when I
arrived had not yet been ordered. "You must order the dinner for us,"
said my host, "and we will agree to your selection." "But I cannot
order for any one but myself," said I in reply. "The chief contention
I make for natural nutrition is that the appetite is the only true
indication of the bodily need, and you must interpret your own appetite
both as to estimated quantity required and the sort of food craved."
After some discussion I agreed to stand as go-between and take the
symptoms of appetite from each and give the order. The waiter was
standing by with pencil in hand and urged a number of expensive dishes
that were the specialties of the day. I asked him to "be quiet, please,
and let us make our own selection." I first placed the bill of fare
in the hands of the daughter of my host and asked her to name the
first thing that came into her mind in connection with the order. She
replied, "Baked potatoes and--" "Stop," said I; "baked potatoes it is;
now it is your turn to choose, R----. What comes first to your mind?"
"Green corn," was the answer. "Very well, waiter; one order of baked
potatoes, one order of green corn, and a lemon ice. Bring these and we
will order more if we require."
The waiter hesitated and was about to protest something when I stopped
him with the assurance that the order given was all that we would
specify at first, and that if the service was unusual and caused
trouble we would submit to an extra service charge to square accounts.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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