Yesterday morning, I received the following post on my Facebook page:
Would you be interested in going on a date with me? Say, dinner and a movie tonight? If so, could you please meet me at my place by 6:00 pm? Oh yeah, BTW I have a big dog that is really nice so don’t be scared when you see him. His name is Tiger (see pic below) and he is very sweet. Have a nice day and I hope to see you tonight.
Your friend, Brock
This request me giggling with glee and anticipation. It was so much better than the usual, “Hey, you wanna do dinner and movie tonight?” that we are both guilty of. So, of course, I accepted the date. I even showed up early:)
We decided to do dinner at a convenient little Mexicanish place down the street so that we could avoid the Friday post-work hell that is Atlanta traffic. We each got our usual: salad with beans and no dressing for me and salad with chicken and vinaigrette for him. Even though I’ve eaten hundreds of meals with this man, I noticed something last night for the first time.
The salad comes with the lettuce on the bottom of the bowl and then heaps of sour cream, guacamole, salsa, grilled veggies and, in his case, chicken, piled on top. Before Brock took a bite, he carefully blended the entire bowl, mixing the best parts in with the blander selections.
I looked down at my plate. I was doing my usual – eating the lettuce first and saving my favorite, the guacamole, until last. I also got to thinking about my ex.
Quick disclaimer here. I am not in the habit of comparing Brock and my ex. It is a pointless and potentially dangerous endeavor. However, sometimes aspects of Brock help to bring me more clarity about my ex.
My ex used to eat his favorite part of the meal first and then he would move on to the less palatable portions.
Revelation.
We eat like we approach life. Me? I tend to delay happiness and have no problem trudging through mediocrity to hopefully get there at some point. My ex? He had no problem going straight for what he wanted and had trouble delaying gratification. And Brock? I think he does it best, mixing satisfaction along with the necessities.
Now, Brock and I both tend to eat too quickly (I can thank being a teacher with 20 minute lunches for that one!). Maybe that’s a sign that we both need to slow down to savor life a bit more.
I know one thing. Next time I find myself eating a salad, I’m going to enjoy some guacamole with every bite.
P.S. Skyfall is Bond at its campy, fun, exciting best 🙂
I think it’s so interesting when something profound shows up in the ordinary. What could be more ordinary that eating? Yet you found out something about yourself by looking at what it was you were doing to complete that task.