Dying Woman’s Biggest Regret Is Not Sending Back More Food At Restaurants
MIAMI, FL—A nurse who has counseled the dying in their last days has revealed the most common regrets we have at the end of our lives. Among the top, from one woman in particular named Mary Brooks, is "I wish I had sent back more food when I had the chance."
The palliative Nurse Collins thought there would be greater lamenting on wanting to have more sex or going skydiving.
“Some people did have boring answers like, ‘I wish I’d spent more time with my family,’ but when I sat down with Ms. Brooks, she spoke about an old Cobb salad she had in 1998 that had several brown cucumbers. I immediately felt her pain and knew this was something I needed to put down in writing.”
She recorded Brooks’ dying epiphanies in a blog called Not Again, which gathered so much attention that she put her observations into a book called Send It Back Before You Die. One of Brooks’ more relatable insights is when she cautions, “You spend your whole life terrified of waiters, worried they’ll think you’re high-maintenance, spoiled, or have taste buds. The stress of pretending not to care how food you spent money on tastes can take years off of your life.”
On the list of flavorless regrets, Brooks lists undercooked chicken, old coffee, salad without enough shrimp, a filthy martini that didn’t even come dirty, and a full box of salt on a tiny tuna melt. When questioned about anything she would do differently, Nurse Collins says, "Ms. Brooks took a moment, looked me straight in the eye, and told me about a 24-ounce burnt steak she ate every last bite of.”
Nurse Collins successfully translates the phenomenal clarity of vision that people gain at the end of their lives, and how we might learn from their wisdom. The book also details all of the specific meals Brooks hopes that others will send back, too, now that she’s told her story.
