On forgetfulness & observations at the grocery store

Tonight I was supposed to have a night out with my friends, G and P whom I've known since college. Lately we've been meeting at an Applebee's that is relatively convenient to all of us. Since I live the closest, I'm usually there first, followed by G and then P. As usual I arrived first, at 17:15 and reserved our table, expecting G, who lives the farthest away but is a school teacher and gets out early enough from work to make the hour drive before rush hour. P is an IT guy for an insurance company, I think. He's usually the last there not because of distance but because of rush hour traffic congestion. He's also the one who is the most likely to forget.

So at 17:40 or so I call P on my cell and he tells me he's just leaving work and should be there between 18:15 and 18:30. Ok, fine. Then I call G who would normally be sitting at the table with me by now but is not. His mom picks up the phone and upon recognizing my voice hands the phone to G. G forgot that we agreed to meet tonight and sounded a bit distracted, as if one of his three kids was clamoring for his attention. So I ask him if he wants to meet next Tuesday instead and he tentatively agrees. Then I call P back and tell him not to bother making the drive and ask him if next Tuesday is better. He tells me he's got to check his schedule, having four kids, including two new beautiful recently adopted daughters.

I quickly finished my soda and asked the waitress if I could have the check for the soda. She tells me not to worry about it. I left her a dollar tip anyway and grabbed my jacket to leave. I've been kind of free spending lately, so even though staying to eat was an attractive option, I decided to save my money for next time. Besides, what fun is it to go out and eat and have a drink all by myself? The dinner crowd at this very popular and empty restaurant hadn't come in yet, so there wasn't even anybody to sit next to at the bar.

So as it stands now we'll meet on the 28th, the day before I go to Dallas, which will be nice. The funny thing is I was going to send them reminder emails last night but decided against it.

The good thing was I was able to swing by the grocery store on my way home to pick up some cold cuts for lunch tomorrow. This I wouldn't have been able to do tonight if we had met because the store would have been closed by the time I got there.

At this grocery store chain that I go to, the folks working behind the deli counter always fail to seal the bags of meat and cheese that I order. They used to use non sealable bags at the deli but now use the handy zip-loc baggies. But they never do it and they should because they should know that it helps keep the product fresher longer.

While I was waiting in the checkout line, there was an elderly couple in front of me who (it sounded like) were conversing in Italian with each other and the cashier, whose name was Fatima. It seemed like it took longer to get through the line than normal because of this. Good thing I wasn't in a hurry.

In a way I'm pleased that I'm home early tonight. After the MAT, I went to check my mailbox and found that my Dane Cook CD/DVD's arrived today along with an item I bought on eBay.

Are you reading this, amz? I'm going to check out your man Dane tonight or tomorrow. I hope he's as funny as you say. He must be good, since she and some friends are flying from Houston to Boston in April to see him live in concert.

Well, that's all for today, folks. See you tomorrow.