“Eating ramen” has become a sort of short hand for “I work in the game industry.” It’s one of those long time jokes that lasts because it’s sadly based in reality. (The other big one of these is, “Do you know how to make a small fortune in the game industry? Start with a large one!”). Funny thing is, even when I was eating on $15 a week, I didn’t eat ramen. Maybe because I had a lot of it as a kid.

Recently, Nicole brought home some ramen. It was 10 for a dollar and she figured Kate (who is nearly 8) might like it. And indeed, Kate loved it and asked for more. What’s funnier is that Nicole and I have started eating it again. There was one day, when it was especially cold in the house, that we made ramen, got under the covers, and watched an old Bogey flick together. We both found ourselves digging on the ramen. It was so familiar, so reminiscent of childhood. It was like a comfort food for kids who grew up in the 70s.

We had to laugh about the situation. If there’s one thing we like to do, it’s spend too much money on fancy eating. We wanted a new couch two years ago, for example, and we still don’t have one. We’ve have joked that we’ve “eaten the couch” three times over by this point. Maybe if the ramen-eating continues, we’ll get that couch in 2004!