Ten minutes to write. Less time to read.

Breakfast has become complicated if you want to eat it in a restaurant. If you are like me, which means you are not a morning person, there are too many decisions to make before one is even half awake.

I don’t mean the decisions that revolve around ordering eggs and bacon over French toast or pancakes. Or juice over milk. I mean the more detailed ones that come after that.

Take a simple order of eggs, toast, and potatoes, for instance, and you’re apt to be bombarded with the following questions: How many eggs? Real ones or egg whites only? Poached, scrambled, over easy? Runny or well-done? In butter or margarine? White, rye or whole wheat bread? Toasted or plain? Buttered or dry? English muffin or bagel is extra. Jelly or marmalade? Hashbrowns or American fries? Crisp or regular?

Of course, most people have the answers handy, but it feels like a lot of instructions, especially since the breakfast order usually follows the beverage order. Coffee, tea, or juice? Ah, coffee. Regular or decaf? Cream or sugar? Real, pink, or blue? (Does anyone remember the days when coffee was coffee, cream was cream, and sugar only came in white?)

About the only personal choice that isn’t in the interrogation is whether I want my toast cut from corner to corner or from side to side. Even in my semi-conscious condition, I prefer the former.