A Game of the Same Name
The woman’s expression was almost amusing. It lasted for only the briefest of moments but it summed up the essence of social agony, noting that she had firmly planted her foot in her throat and that she had been mocking the very event that had brought us to that very elevator. It is good for her, then, that she seemed to be a breezy and generally care-free person because she bounced back with impressive quickness. She touched my arm in a gesture of—I’m presuming—apology and reassurance as she laughed, hysterical anew. “Where’s your ponytail?” she giggled. I fought the urge to whip off my hat and point out that I was currently incapable of growing such a follicular delight and assuring her that were I able to, I probably would indeed have long hair. Most likely pulled back into a ponytail for convenience’s sake. I also bit my tongue to refrain from expressing how much I detest being touched by people I don’t know. My social discomfort grows, not unlike the Nothing from the Neverending Story, with each passing day and at this point the best I can do to contain it requires that I suffer in silence lest I become some caricature where my personal quirks are broadcast to the populace at large and illuminate a beacon whose light reaches the corners of the Earth declaring me a Freak for all to see. Unlike currently where the light is relegated to a small flare or a dim flashlight.
As the woman exited the elevator one floor below ours, she did so with a casual wave and a “Have fun!” cry that really could have been mistaken for nothing but sincere. Nik and I exchanged glances and burst into laughter of our own.
Later, after long blocks of gaming sessions interrupted only by trips to the con snackbar for $1.50 canned sodas and cold corn dogs we decided to try and get a Real Meal. Unfortunately, unlike DunDraCon where the hotel is located in close proximity to a sprawling strip mall, Kubla’s host hotel has only a Mongolian BBQ joint and a Sizzler in reasonable walking distance. Lacking better options, we (somewhat reluctantly in my case) decided to hike to the Sizz.
Sizzler is the lowest of the low-rent steak places. Even the buffet-style Golden Corral offers a better selection of steak and salad options (and at better prices) and I would classify the average clientele of GC as “questionable.” Take that how you like. Sizzler isn’t exactly bad, but calling it good without irony or referring to something other than its food offerings is a long stretch. But when your other option is a hamburger from room service for $18.47 plus 20% gratuity and $2.50 service fee, well, sometimes you have to take what you can get.
The rest of our little group was all about the steak and all you can eat shrimp. Having had a hamburger for lunch the thought of another slab of overcooked red meat wasn’t appealing to me so I opted for a Cajun chicken sandwich that was perfectly edible and in some ways tasty although I felt the use of the word “Cajun” in the title was stretching the application of that particular word. Nikki, on the other hand, wanted the shrimp but not the steak and wasn’t really that excited about the all you can eat prospect. To put it into perspective, all Nikki can eat, on a typical day, is less than one-third of a normal restaurant portion. Even a skimpy restaurant’s portions can be enough to overwhelm her so the prospect of all you can eat is of dubious economic value in her case. The only other option that seemed like what she was looking for was found on the kid’s menu. I told her to just order that but she was nervous about it because they have big notices everywhere saying “Under 10 Only.”
The specialty menus at restaurants kind of baffle me. I’m talking about the Kid’s and Senior’s menus. They seem to make a big deal out of the age restrictions and yet the food isn’t really any differently priced if you look closely enough at it. The kid’s menu is often undigestable sludge but it is priced, in a volume to dollar sense, roughly the same as the adult menu. The prices are only lower because there is less of it. The same holds true for the senior menu at most restaurants and while a few may actually offer legitimate senior discounts that doesn’t really make that much sense to me because if you were to give older adults a discount (say 5% or whatever) why would they need their own special menu? Just give them the savings from whatever they order (I’m sure some restrictions would apply). So whenever I see seperate menus I have to really question why those things are cheaper and the only thing I can come up with is (ready for a shock?) they actually cost the restaurant less.
That being the case, why anyone wouldn’t be able to order those items is beyond me. If I just want a small snack at an eating establishment, why should I have to pay for the larger plate and be stuck with leftovers? The same holds true for the lunch menus: Offering lesser portions for lower price should be a universal option, not limited to age or time restrictions. It’s stupid.
But in this case I was pretty confident that they wouldn’t make a big deal out of Nik ordering from the kid’s menu. Why would they? And true to form they didn’t seem to really bat an eye at the register when two adults ordered one adult item and one kid’s item. Obviously one person was ordering out of the age bracket, but so what? Money is money, and the cashier gladly took ours.
Page 2 of 7 | Previous page | Next page