The Cost Of Delight

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In 1990, McDonalds stopped frying their French Fries in animal fat, as a global campaign against heavy fats was progressing. A lot of people believed and still believe they're harmful, especially for older folks.

See, fries fried in deep, heavy, animal oil taste incredibly. They're very crunchy on the outside, and perfectly fluffy on the inside. That's why we started to love them so much: they combined two completely different textures we've never experienced before together. Plant-based oil, on the other hand, makes fries much more mushy, getting rid of that beautiful contrast.

It's delight vs reason.

We know we shouldn't eat too many heavy fats (yes there's an ongoing debate around this), yet we all know, we feel intrinsically that the old way of doing fries is just better. Delight has a cost.

I was wondering about how we achieve true delight. And what it costs us every day. Some people think that everything which brings us pleasure has a negative cost of some sort. That nothing truly delightful and good comes without downsides.

I'm starting to believe, that as it is in the case of French Fries, delight comes at a cost when it is immediately gratifying. When it's not due to our honest, hard, well-minded work, but due to a quick, easy, and in the end dirty action.

Honest delight? Playing with your kids after work without zero stress or anxiety. Took 10 years to achieve.

Dishonest delight? Stuffing yourself full with French Fries. Took 5 minutes to achieve.

Again and again: there are no shortcuts in life.