Packed lunch is sad

[Ribrabrob]

I went to a theme park with a friend recently, fully prepared to buy lunch when I was there however arrived to pick her up and there she was with a bag full of homemade sandwiches and packet of crips each I was grateful, of course, for the time effort and money on her part but I couldn't help feeling a little dissapointed - what's the harm in buying food out?

Its always been the case that I can't help but feel a little sad when I see families on a day out at a theme park, zoo for example, sat on a bench eating (warm?) sandwhcihes wrapped in foil with a fruit shoot.

I had the type of childhood where this was common place - packed lunch for every occasion, no need to eat out becaus there was 'food at home' or it was 'too expensive' (despite no money worries) etc so I suppose it's kind of stuck with me and I don't want that kind of life.

Aibu to think that if you can afford a day at the zoo etc, then spending a little bit extra on some food is no big deal? Aibu to think that life is too short to spend time making a sand which/salad to take on a day out, when really you can just spend a bit of extra money and have the hassle taken away? It just seems so strange to me and as though people try and suck all enjoyment out of life.

How strange ! My daughter loves a picnic and she is 11 !! The food in these places is rubbish and expensive. Sometimes on a day out , it’s not the food that’s important, but where you are . Sometimes you just need to refuel and a picnic is perfect for that. I would rather spend money for a proper lunch out another time .

I don't think YABU but I think it's just about your association with the packed lunch. If you associate it with necessity and poverty why would you like it?

I associate with happier, easier, sunnier times of years ago and it's just a fun thing to do.

Also, the cost of buying food when you're out can really mount up, especially with children, and a packed lunch can save a lot which can be spent on other things.

Our kids would never have had days out if not for kids go free vouchers and packed lunches.
And the picnic was half the fun! It spelled 'day out' to my kids. It's not like they were a normal thing when they were pre-schooler, and they had school dinners when they were older.

PotolBabu has it pretty much nailed I think. Eating out at a theme park/zoo etc isn’t a treat for me.

for some people,kids especially part of the fun of a day out is a packed lunch.and having a dodgy lunch at a shitty onsite restuarent most of these places have isnt all that.

I know what you mean OP, eating out is part of the fun for me and I have memories of rubbish packed lunches as a kid. That said if I have nice stuff in and I'm going to the beach or somewhere I'll be happy with a picnic.

We went to a theme park last Sunday.
We can easily afford to buy food there BUT the only food on offer was awful and the cafe was pretty grubby
I would rather spend far more in M&S or get an Ocado delivery the day before and take nice food we want to eat with us in a cool bag than pay £20 for a slice of dried up pizza, half a jacket potato and some burnt wedges.

I make fantastic packed lunches and mine are more healthier,interesting and cheaper than the white that is on offer.
When the kids were young I'd ask them what kind of things they wanted on our say trips so they would have some say.
Also up until recently being a veggie meant there was virtually no choice.
To say if you can afford a trip to the zoo therefore you can afford to buy the food there may or may not be true for everyone. We could afford it but I'll be dammed if I'm buying over priced shite if I dont have to.
As for life being too shirt to make a packed lunch, come on, it's not a wedding buffet for 200. It's a lunch and snacks. in our case for four, with food that was already in. One of us what sort that out and the other would get the kids ready. Even if only one of us was around on the day of a trip it takes little time to get food together.
Dont get me wrong, the kids were allowed to have treats at the park or wherever but for a day out from 8.00am to 8.00pm the majority of the food was from home.

I felt like you when I saw families with packed lunches on days out. Then I had dc. He really doesn't like fast food which is pretty much all that's on offer there and he definitely doesn't have the patience for the queues. And he needs 40 billion snacks available at all times so we may as well throw in a sandwich.

We can afford to eat out and often do but we go to local places that are family friendly and serve proper food relatively quickly.

If it was just adults, I wouldn't bring a packed lunch though.

I much prefer a picnic, tastes nicer and is healthier.

That's bollocks Potol. I almost never ate out as a child. We almost always had packed lunches and one of my most vivid childhood memories was when we went on some sort of 'club trip' (it would have been a Working Men's club, miner's welfare, or perhaps the foster care association because DM fostered) and the food was provided.

it had been donated by M&S in the days that they didn't open Sundays and they donated all the unsold food to worthy causes and we had never had M&S sandwiches because prepacked sandwiches were too much of a luxury. We talked about that day for months, if not years 'remember the time we had M&S sandwiches when we went to the zoo'.

I take a packed lunch because I don't want to pay over the odds for poor quality food. I simply can't do it. I'll stand in the restaurant and look at what's on offer and think 'I don't want any of it'.

Agree that people also do it because it means it's the only way they can afford the day out, or it means they can afford more days out. Eg if you have £100, you can have one day out if you buy lunch, or two if you take a picnic both times.

Too many people eat out every time they leave the house. That's why people are so fat. Convenience food is low nutrition high calorie.

I would either take my own, go without or just have a protein bar.

Your at a theme park to have fun on rides, not eat kfc blurgh.

Food a lot of time is same price as the entry ticket per meal.
I prefer to bring my own food because I personally don't like eating junk food.
I'm a runner and very fit. I have my cheat days but I use them on decent food I'll enjoy. Not some microwaved burger with a 100% mark up lol.
Plus I love a picnic with my family. Sit in warm sunshine with food we've chosen and like having a natter and giggle.

We sometimes eat out and sometimes take a packed lunch. If we take a packed lunch I buy extra nice bread rolls, get a delicious filling, nice snacks etc. To be honest it's often MUCH nicer than the miserable food you get at the cafe at a zoo or theme park. We're not hard up but if I've spent £30 getting us all in to the zoo then I don't really enjoy spending an extra £25 or so on buying us a poor quality lunch at the cafe, which is often only picked at by the kids. We do often splash out if we're going somewhere with a nice restaurant but often it's just not worth it.

I hate picnics, even the good quality ones everyone on the thread are falling over themselves to describe.
The food is nice if you eat it fresh but it's never as nice when it's been wrapped up for hours even in a cool bag.
Sitting on the grass fending off wasps and flies while surrounded by other people all eating their naice crusty bread and cheeses and their shrieking kids isn't the romantic ideal some are painting it out to be.
As for the folk who scoff their food in a queue that's just grim, hate being stuck next a family of picnickers in a queue inflicting their stinking food on everyone and rustling packets, dropping crumbs etc.
Then there is the making of the picnic, getting up at the crack of dawn to cook chicken or carve a ham cooked the previous night. It's all such a faff.

I'm not saying theme park food is delicious or good value either but I've never queued ages for it either or fought for a table, and there's a convenience in not having to lug it around that appeals.

How virtuous **Tallgreenbottle
Must cobble together some «to die for baguettes» and how on earth do you know if the OP is shit at picnics?! What a load of tosh.

OP I’m with you as someone who was forced to eat pack ups all the time under the guise of health. Eating out is a nice part of a day out if you can afford it.

I can't see how a theme park restaurant is a treat for anybody. If you have enough money to eat out regularly, you'll be thinking the food is awful and if you don't have enough money to eat out regularly, you'll be stressing about spending the cost of the weekly shop on one meal.

Odd point of view! I’d much rather take a picnic from home than go to an overpriced fast food restaurant and wait in a huge queue for unhealthy food.

We recently took a 2 day trip to a theme park, we packed a lunch for the first day. I really wish we had packed one for the second day! The food in the parks was awful.

I kind of get where you are coming from but some people might just know what crap these places sell and prefer to eat their own home made food.

Also saves a fair bit, it is a bit crazy how a prices hikes in places.

Couldn’t think of anything worse than tuna and beetroot or avocado in a baguette. Certainly not ‘to die for’.

If you are getting up at the crack of dawn to cook a chicken or carve a ham cooked the night before im not surprised you hate picnics notso
I can make a nice picnic in about 20 minutes

Theme park food is vile. Unless your friend makes revolting sandwiches YABU.

Good for you Hoppinggreen give yourself a merit point.

I buy nice crisps like Pringles I’m sorry but they are barely recognisable as real food let alone a crisp that is thought to be potato

I’m picnic all the way, it’s nothing to do with cost. I just wouldn’t eat the rubbish they offer. I see the people buying it and find it a bit sad.

Have you considered that some people have food allergies, and homemade lunch is their own option?
I might be odd one but sometimes I do prefer to have my own packed lunch and have a picnic on the bench where is quieter than in a typical cafe at the attraction place.