Getting there may be half the fun when you're going on a trip, but "eating there" is at least half the fun whenever this cat takes a trip to local eating establishments.
Recently a friend treated the Prowler to lunch at a high-end cafe that names its chef and sous chef on the menu and offers incredible edibles that sound and look more like works of art than stuff to chow down on.
The golden-haired boy seated nearby, however, couldn't care less that his companions used the freshly baked wine bread and olive-dappled rolls for dipping with the tableside bottle of olive oil. The toddler pulled the bread unceremoniously apart like cotton balls, munched some, threw some and attempted to stuff some in a tablemate's ear. A funny yet painful sight--we cats know what it's like to get junk stuck in our ears!
The next lunch the Prowler enjoyed was at another cafe, this one with a more down-home style whose menu includes scrambled eggs and BLT sandwiches. The funny situation here came not from a kid but an adult--a woman who grinned a lot from under a floppy hat and proceeded to tell her life's story to her waitress.
Unlike this cat's friends, who often want to commiserate with tales of woe, this woman was obviously bubbling with happy tidings and just had to share them with someone. She punctuated her speech with giggles instead of pauses and managed to transform her waitress from sad to smiley. She probably left a cheery tip, too!
While taking a coffee break to beat the midafternoon doldrums, the Prowler witnessed the embarrassing sight of a woman spilling her java on a man at a table next to her. Not only did the man good-naturedly help the woman clean up the brown puddle on the floor, he even bought her another coffee! They ended up sharing the same table and the same conversation, which to this cat looked like it might have been the start of something good.
This article appeared in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, January 15, 1997.
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