joyful2beeblogs

I had a weird event over thirty years ago. I was eating alone at a fast food seafood places called “Captain something or other.” I love seafood and their’s was pretty good. I ordered something with oysters in it because I seldom get to enjoy them. As I ate, my teeth came down on something hard. Fortunately my teeth had not applied a lot of pressure on whatever it was. My curiosity was peaked. I spit out a small, white pearl!

Thankfully, there was no damage to my teeth. So I could fully enjoy the thrill of being surprised by a lovely, small white pearl. How often does a perfect, little, white pearl come with your meal? It was like a little present from heaven. I felt kind of special that I had been given this little prize. So when the waitress came around I told her happily of my seafood booty. She looked shocked and asked if I were alright. I assured her that I was. She told the manager about my find and the manager came immediately with apologies.

Then it dawned on me that my shared news had not been received with surprise and awe but more than likely with fear of a law suit. I assured her that there was no damage. My sharing of the event was not done to cause stress or fear but to share my surprise and pleasure. I reassured them both that I was fine and was thrilled with my little white pearl.

Another weird restaurant event

One morning a friend, a night shift nurse, called after getting off from work. She asked if I wanted to meet her for breakfast at our favorite breakfast place. I always enjoy my friend’s company and because she works Monday-Thursday nights we don’t get together as often as we would like, so she sometimes calls me to join her for breakfast. Since she called when I had almost finished my own breakfast I told her that I would join her and just get some hot tea while she ate breakfast. The restaurant was only three or four miles away.

I joined her and ordered a cup of chamomile tea. The cup and tea bag were delivered by the waitress with a black hard plastic, little pitcher of hot water. As we talked I poured the water over the Chamomile teabag. A little later while talking, I pulled the tea bag out and noticed that the tea was somewhat darker than the brand I use at home but it tasted fine so I proceeded to drink it.

When I poured the water out of the pitcher for the second cup, reusing the same teabag, I noticed that the water coming out of the pitcher was colored like regular tea! I opened the lid and when I looked straight down into the recesses of the pitcher I found another teabag! My friend and I laughed as she told the  waitress about it as I pulled the extra bag out.

The shocked waitress said she had looked into the pot but saw nothing. As I tried to assuage her guilty feelings and shock, I demonstrated to her that unless she had looked straight down into the pot she would never have seen that bag. Funny thing: as I demonstrated how I had looked into the pot I found another teabag in the bottom of the pitcher!

My friend and I were laughing hysterically because this is one of the weird kinds of things that happen to one of us every now and then. Soon the manager came over and apologized profusely. We assured him there was no harm done. He gave me a $5 gift card for a future meal and told me he was going to talk to the washers about their negligence.

Later as we were leaving I saw the manager looking at me so guiltily that I wanted to reassure him so I hugged him. (In a motherly way, since I was old enough to be his mother.) And we left.

Now that I think about it, over thirty years later, I should have gotten a free gift card or meal the first time with the oyster pearl, but the pearl was a prize in itself. Oh well. What surprises await my friend and I at our next dining experience?