A small square table in the middle caught my eye. A young couple occupied two chairs, a woman on the left, and a man to her left, facing me. They were both casually dressed, their body language relaxed, calm conversation unheard over the chatter of the restaurant. The chair to his left was turned sideways, holding a car seat with an adorable, several-months-old baby girl, equally calm and relaxed. She alternated looking around with taking drinks from her bottle or chewing on a snack, perfectly content while her parents enjoyed their dinner.
Other tables held larger extended families having animated conversations, laughing men and women in groups of twos and threes presumably enjoying a guys' or ladies' night, older couples like us eating in comfortable silence.
We filled our bellies, and went home to video chat with our daughter, our Friday night her late Saturday morning in Japan. She has another two-and-a-half years with her job there, and is already thinking about what she wants to do when it is done. Her Japanese friends, well aware of American news reports of political strife and general unrest, have asked her why she wants to return--and she's wondering if she wants to wait awhile longer to do so.
Agreeing with her friends, I hesitated to respond. But then I thought about our restaurant. It was busy with all kinds of people--white, black, Hispanic, old, young, and in-between. My view for an hour held no animosity, no rudeness, no incivility. Just neighborhood folks eating good food and tipping their smiling waiters.
I assured my daughter that no matter what she saw on the news--there are still plenty of nice folks here in the U.S. I could vouch for that with my own eyes.
Sounds like Gaby's co-workers/friends don't want her to leave. Last night we saw, again, the Celtic Women show. Wow. Excellent performance and they got a standing ovation by all when the show ended. Your observation of the folks in the restaurant is interesting. I'll do that too. This is an amazing area with everything from high ranking military to NASA Space Scientists. Von Braun's Daughter recently spoke at UAB about the 50th anniversary of the moon landing and her Father's involvement in all that. With the recent weather issues, too much rain affected all of us. Tonight a Hockey Game!!! Have a great weekend, you deserve it. Love Ya's, Dad.
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