Rob S. Friedman
September 2025
What Do You Want for Dinner?
We both know the revolving go-to menus. We agree on proteins with generous bonhomie. Yet every possibility unspoken, stifled by hesitation and begrudging mumbles that fill the silence — it’s all an exercise in wasting time.
That looping question wedged again between us, asked so often it sounds like a rusty can being kicked down the road. Its jangling recurrence once again forces your eyes to squint, my hands into fists.
Instead of considering the many recipes waylaid in kitchen drawers or Melissa Clark’s brilliance, we trap ourselves in mutual deference and our joint failure to inspire or surprise, and settle again for scrolling on Yelp.
Rob S. Friedman 