"It's only about a 15 minute walk"

There comes a time in one's life, when you have to consider the value of exercise over convenience. No, I am not about to rant about Western society's obsession with all things 'quick-and-easy.' No. I'm going to tell you a little story about the time I went to an Indian buffet*.

It was a sunny, Sunday afternoon in Manchester...okay, so it was today. As part of a delayed Holi celebration, a group of GKH residents made their way to an Indian buffet restaurant not too far from the hall. I met up with some pals, and we made out way there via bus (BUS!). The organizer of this event, was sitting next to me. She assured everyone that it would only be a brief walk - 15 to 20 minutes tops, so I was a little confused by the decision to take the bus. But, wanting to go with the flow, I jumped on, found a seat, and thought nothing much of it after that.

There were about 20 of us in total, and we had an enjoyable feast of many chicken dishes (there were a few vegetarian ones, as well, along with beef and lamb, but it was predominantly chicken). For an "all-you-can-eat" scenario, I must admit, I didn't pull my usual sloth-like behaviour. I felt two plates was sufficient - after all, there's only so much chicken one can consume at any given time. We shared many laughs, took a few photos and then called it a day.

Now, by this point, we had determined that this 15-20 minute estimation was a little inaccurate. The bus ride, alone was close to 15 minutes. So, not one to accept an opportunity to find the truth, I convinced** a good majority of the group to walk back, rather than take the bus. But, this wasn't going to be any walk back home -no - this was going to be a timed walk home.

And so we walked... we chatted, laughed, "sprinted," sang, rode imaginary bicycles in the bike lanes, we even played a quick game of tag with the bus the rest of the group took home, and eventually we made it back safe and sound.

...Eventually. 46 minutes and 39 seconds later.

Now to be fair, we walked, as a group, much slower than I would have walked had I been on my own,  but I certainly wouldn't have made it back in 15-20 minutes. Maybe half an hour.

But what do you do after stuffing your face with delicious Indian dishes? Why, you go for Falafel of course!

-the Orange Canadian

*Note: No Indians were consumed at this dinner. 
 **Accuracy of me convincing the group to participate in the walk back, may differ from the actual situation.