WM article

Jamie Robins has found the perfect cure for lunch break boredom – document everything his colleague is eating – then tell a growing number of followers about it on the web. Trouble is, the subject’s feeling a little stalked...

WHAT did you have for lunch yesterday? That’s an easy question, you could probably answer it.

What did you have to eat on Wednesday, February 3? That isn’t so easy.

Well it is for my friend and colleague Dom.

You see, since the middle of January, I have spent my lunch breaks writing about everything he eats while we are in work together.

I post the results on my first ever blog.

Now I appreciate this sounds weird, but I do have my reasons.

It all started one day when we were going to a pub for a more expensive lunch than usual because it was pay day.

Dom struggled to pre-order because he couldn’t remember what he had chosen to eat the last time we went to the same venue – please keep in mind that this was early in 2009.

He got annoyed with me when I couldn’t remember, so I thought that the best way to prevent this happening again would be to start making a note of everything he eats.

I kept the notes in my desk, but I was running out of paper and quite frankly, I’m ashamed of my handwriting, so it was suggested I should start a blog.

With a little help, I set up an account on Blogspot – and lo – Dom’s Food Diary was born.

I think it might help if I share one of the first blogs to give you a better idea of how this works.

“Friday, January 15: Dom doesn’t like the idea of my food diary. He says it’s “creepy”. I think it’s cute.

“There is talk of a pub lunch. Dom pre-ordered chicken tikka. He opted for half rice and half chips.

“At one point he dropped a chip and caught it with his legs. He seemed really pleased for himself and I was happy with this.

“I was proud of the integrity he displayed on the Deal or No Deal game.

“We got to the money round and he refused to deal for £5. He ended up winning 70p – “Death or Glory,” he said.”


As you can see, from the start the blog hasn’t just been about the food.

I like to include a little extra information about Dom for blog readers who don’t have the pleasure of knowing him.

I see the non-food related stories as the equivalent to a novelty figure in a pack of Kellogg’s cereal or a toy in a Happy Meal.

You didn’t ask for them, but you don’t complain when they show up. They make the whole experience that little bit more enjoyable.

I also like to make the blog enjoyable for its readers and believe it or not, it does have readers.

Within a few days of the blog going online there was call for a Facebook fan page.

The membership has grown slowly and the blog now gets an unbelievable average of 100 hits a day.

Word of mouth is the only advertisement it gets, so it does amuse me when new fans pop up who don’t know Dom or myself.

I will admit though, that I was initially worried the pressure of being an internet sensation would get to my mate Dom.

For a few days, he told me I was going to give him an eating disorder.

He couldn’t stop thinking that strangers would be reading about what he had chosen to eat as he was ordering food.

But he quickly stopped being so self-conscious and soon I was writing about his thoughts on everything from Subways to Special Brew.

If you’re interested, he doesn’t like the way the staff at Subway squash the subs.

He thinks squashing subs should be an option they offer you, like they do with extra cheese and toasting the bread.

On the other hand he is a fan of Special Brew.

“It’s sumptuous,” he said.

“It’s like a soup – a soup that makes you want to fight.”

Now the blog is becoming something of a way of life for me and for Dom, whether he likes it or not.

It is also becoming a daily feature in the lives of our friends, friends of friends and people we don’t even know.

It is read by people all over the UK and it even has a few fans from the USA – the food capital of the world.

One reader from Atlanta GA contributed to my monthly ‘Praise for Dom’s Food Diary’ section.

“I hope this blog continues until Dom is eating through a tube or is dead,” she wrote.

“It just means that much to me.”

It’s hard to say when the blog will finish, if it ever will.

Threats to the survival of the blog include either of us finding a new job and/or a restraining order being enforced.

Either way, I’m sure I’ll find a way around it.

Personally I’m hoping an entrepreneur snaps up the rights to produce Dom’s Food Diary – the book – in time for Christmas.

That way I could use the money to fulfil my dreams of making documentaries about Dom and his eating habits.

Watch this space.