A second plate at breakfast

An original literary non-fiction-style account of eating with relatives at a hotel breakfast buffet.

My aunt approached the breakfast buffet as if it were an examination in which overlooking a question might cost marks. She walked its full length before taking a plate. My brother, already carrying toast, said that the eggs would be cold by the time she reached them. She replied that she did not yet know whether she wanted eggs.

The tables held fruit, bread, cereal and several covered dishes. A small label stood beside each one, although the nearest had turned towards the window. A guest lifted a lid, looked inside and replaced it without taking anything. Behind him, another waited with a plate held level in both hands. A staff member moved the label back, making the next person’s decision a little quicker.

At our table, my aunt had arranged a small amount of almost everything she wanted to try. My brother had made a large decision about toast. He said the point of a buffet was choice. She agreed, then observed that he had chosen the same breakfast he ate at home. He said that this proved he knew what he liked.

My younger cousin returned with a pancake and nothing to put on it. She had been unable to carry a second small bowl while holding her plate. My aunt went back with her and brought the bowl, while my brother guarded the toast from a window which had been opened beside the table. The breakfast which had promised separate freedom briefly required the whole group to coordinate.

Later, my aunt found that she disliked one of the things she had tried. She pushed it aside and said she was glad she had taken only a little. My brother ordered another slice of toast from the passing server. The cousin asked whether she could try the fruit on my plate. Through the window, people were beginning their journeys across the square. Inside, we were still deciding what counted as a satisfactory start to the day.

What do you learn from the whole passage about the relatives’ different ways of using the choices at breakfast?