A Day Off

A day off. Today is a national holiday, in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr.  Like many holidays, we often do not acknowledge or celebrate the reason for the holiday. The past couple of years, I have watched TV shows about Martin Luther King, Jr. and  his efforts on behalf of the disenfranchised peoples of the United States, not just the racially disenfranchised.

This year, I did not.  I had some small tasks to do, and spent the rest of my day reading.  I was glad for a day of leisure, however. I took myself out to lunch, and let someone wait on me.  I have had some back, hip, and leg pain with toe tingling. I did not do much this weekend, and have not felt much pain, which is a blessing to me. 

There are chores I could have done around the house, but would have exacerbated the pain. So, I chose not to do those things. I am anticipating a pain management procedure next week, and if it is successful, I may take a day or two off to do those chores I have delayed.

Last year, when I did my taxes, my tax provider gave me a gift certificate for a local restaurant in celebration of the numbers of years I have used them (5 or 10?).  So, I went out to eat, took a book, ate lunch off the lunch hour prime time, and enjoyed being waited on while I relaxed and read.

So, I decided that I should do that about once a month.  Over the last 2-3 years, I have taken my self to lunch intermittently, but often to a self serve buffet, or would buy some take out, and bring it home to eat.  So having someone wait on me was really nice.

The experience varies. Today's experience was average.  The waiter was fine, but near the end of my meal, acted like he was in a hurry for me to check out, and then came back and told me to take my time, sit back and enjoy my book.  But he had ruined the atmosphere.  I went to Red Lobster http://www.redlobster.com/ because I won several gift certificates for that restaurant.  I will return to Red Lobster several more times, as a result. 

Red Lobster is not my most favorite restaurant.  I love sea food, but most of their sea food is not fresh.  Today, the waiter told me what on the menu was fresh sea food, and, it was more than I wanted to spend for lunch.  But I had a fine lunch. 

I have been out to eat several times and brought a book.  One of the best places is the Hong Kong Restaurant http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/203/1047280/restaurant/Hong-Kong-Restaurant-Lubbock.  Typical of many Oriental restaurants, it does not always get good ratings from the health inspectors.  But it has selections that I like.  You can get Mongolian barbecue, sushi, and other Oriental selections off the buffet.  They also have "American" selections including desert. I can eat enough soup, spring rolls, egg rolls, and Oriental selections to fill up my tummy.  I order a pot of tea, and enjoy the meal.  The thing about eating at the Hong Kong is that the pot tea is sufficiently large that I have tea left after I am done eating my meal.  Since I am not in the restaurant during the rush hour, and not taking up a table they need for a waiting customer, I take my time to finish the tea and enjoy my book.

I have decided I will explore other restaurants where I might find a place where I can sit back and read and be waited on. 

Sometimes, we just need to have someone take care of us, and a day off is a good day to do that.