Week 22-ish: Chipotle Is Not Too Big to Fail. The prodigal Chipotle Bowl

The Paradox of Chipotle's Gradual Quality Decline OK, we are here to talk about Chipotle and yes, it is that Chipotle. The same Chipotle that put guac on the map. It put avocados on the map and the stock has been rising ever since. Same Chipotle, just rice and beans in a bowl, but about. But I really mean to actually talk about Chipotle because it used to feel like it meant something. Like there was a time in our lives when if you went to Chipotle, you knew you lived a life of opulence. You had meaning in your life. It's like something that you did by going to Chipotle meant that you respected yourself. But now you get a bowl and it's like, it's still technically Chipotle to Everything about it is there. The logo is, you walk in, it's the same. The line, depending on where you go, still very long, still the same forks like Chipotle forks are the only forks that look like that. By the way, where do you even get those from? But something about Chipotle feels different and that's what we going to talk about today. Welcome to Off the Internet. It's a 50 episode experiment where we step away from the feed and decide, hey, are we OK with no Internet now? I'm just going to jump back into it. All right? Was there a day where we're like, you know what? Chipotle's kind of mid, if not even mid, a little bad. Did Chipotle just have like one day where everybody was like, hey, guys, whatever we put inside this, stop it. We quit. Was there a meeting? Did someone write a memo? Did someone stand in front of a PowerPoint? Was like, hey guys, whatever you're doing, just give it a little bit less? Or was this a gradual thing? Was it just one little smaller scoop of the the seasoning? Maybe someone was on a tighter schedule and they couldn't get to the ingredients counter or somebody just trying to run up the numbers and couldn't put the same quality in the meal. Whatever it is, something happened and that's how it always is happening. It's like a decline, but we don't know where the decline occurred. And we're just the same way. Like nobody notices until it's too bad. Now everybody notices now, allegedly. How We Spiritually Downsize and Rationalize Our Decline This is my take personally, and I don't even know if Chipotle is actually bad. Maybe it was always like this and maybe now we've just become more mature. I don't know. But what I do know is that I do not want to become Chipotle. I don't want to be walking around with the same face and the same jokes and the same personality, really. But less of the thing that people came for, the less version of myself to be spiritually downsized, because that's a possibility as well. Nobody wakes up, and then they're the worst version of himself. You kind of negotiate your way there a little bit. Little less sleep, a little more squirrel. Stop calling your friends back. Stop reading the books. Maybe you don't jog as much. I don't know. Maybe you're in a jog and I don't know, exercise, generally speaking, Right? And on the outside looking in, the packaging looks the same. You still got the same forks, the same silverware, even looks the same from a distance, but you know good and well you not showing up yet. The burrito bowl is indeed getting smaller. They don't even fill up the bowl the same way. Chipotle people y'all know what I'm talking about. But still, if the Chipotle bowl is your life, how do you explain that? Because you kind of can work around rationalizing putting less in the bowl. Like, hey, I'm tired and I have a lot of stuff going on and I'm gonna get back to the stuff and I'm still doing alright in comparison to so many things in your life. And maybe some of that is true and that's why decline is so hard to catch because it's always reasonable. Chipotle as a Mirror for Personal Quality and Erosion But eventually there's a difference between just what you do to be rational and true erosion, true lack in quality. And I don't know if that difference is time or if that difference is what is the word entropy? I'm not sure, but that's what this episode is about. It's not about Chipotle, although it is. But Chipotle is just a mirror. When you look into that burrito bowl, you're kind of looking at yourself and you're thinking, am I the same quality? Where am I expecting things for myself and people from my body and from my mind? The idea of creativity from God for my future based on how I used to live my life. On the things that you used to give. What are some portions that you've reduced? And you're saying, I hope nobody notices that Because I think eventually people do notice. And even worse, you notice. And it's interesting that's I think one of the things that the Internet somewhat gets correct because I'm sure this Chipotle phenomenon is all over the Internet. I don't know. I've been on the Internet in fact, too much and that's actually prevented me from doing off the Internet in the context of that, I have not seen any Chipotle content. All right, there is a subsection of the Internet that needs to be about this, alright. And I'm sure it exists, I just haven't checked. But you go online and you can see no Chipotle content, but you see Chipotle lies. You looking at people like man, that bowl is sad too. And I think about that with life, like sometimes you feel your attention could be getting worse and maybe your standards are slipping. Maybe you're not optimized the way that you think you used to be. Maybe you feel a little less alive. And at first you think it's just you. And then you realize this is what happens when you stop doing quality control 'cause I'm sure Chipotle had to do quality control of yourself, of your soul. Which sounds a little dramatic, but shoot, we out here paying premium for guac. Alright? Anyway, these are my thoughts. This is my rent and this is the episode for today. Bye.