This evening, a friend and I went out for dinner. Nothing fancy, really, just a simple dinner at Boston Pizza. I ordered the Chicken Parmesan and he ordered the Cajun Chicken rice bowl. His food arrived piping hot and mine stone cold.
I found this annoying even though this sort of thing happens ALL the time in ANY restaurant in town. For the past 15 years, enjoying a nice meal out with a friend is hit or miss. Knowing that this happens all the time and expecting it to occur, did not help keep me in balance; error was still present.
However, I refused to return the dish. I forced myself to eat the breaded chicken breast covered with tangy tomato sauce and cheese with a side of boiled frozen vegetable; all of it cold.
Informing the waitress of the situation did not help my error. I tried to justify to her why I informed her of a problem but then refused to send back to the dish. It was an awkward conversation, to say the least, and by the end of it, my error had grown.
All of a sudden, I realize that what had happened really didn’t make sense to me either. Why was I eating a disgusting meal, complaining about it and refusing people the opportunity to fix it? What was it I was trying to get? What’s more important here?
As I was walking out the restaurant door, it came to me. I valued eating at the same time as my friend and sharing a meal together much more than I cared about what I was eating. Once I realized this and said it out loud to my friend, I felt a lot better.
The things we do for connection, eh?
2 comments:
Interesting connection! It always suprises me how I htink I am controlling for one thing, but I am really controlling for something else all together. Once I figure it out, then the error is reduced.
LSE,
Yes, it's "the thought behind the thought" thing. I just wonder how many there are in my head.
I also wonder what would happen if I sat there paying attention to every single backgroung thought until I reached the "end."
Hmmm....
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