Husband-dear says a lot of really funny things. Really, he does. And whenever he has gotten me to shoot tea out of my nose once again, I tell myself that I really need to post his comments on my blog. To then promptly forget them. But tonight we had a semi-funny conversation that I really wanted to share (and more importantly: remembered).
The scene is as follows; husband-dear, the kiddos, and I wanted to go out to dinner. We do this about once a week, and tonight was it. Husband-dear had been chomping at the bit for a night out all week, but because I was busy grading, grading, grading, and more grading, we hadn't gotten around to it. But tonight was going to be the night. Only it almost wasn't. You see, at every restaurant that we stopped at, there was at least a thirty minute wait. Admittedly, restaurants in our town do get busy on Friday nights, tonight was so busy, it seriously had me wonder if people were giving away food for free, which is a logical train of thought for me, but more on that later. After driving around, husband-dear was hungry, bordering on grumpy, and when he pulled into yet another parking lot that was filled to the brink, the following interaction ensued:
Husband-dear: What is wrong with this town? Don't these people have any hobbies? Places to go besides restaurants? Seriously, all these people do is go out to eat, and go out to eat again, and again, and again.
Me: Uhm, honey, we're going out to eat too you know
Husband-dear, increasingly agitated: Yes, but we go once a week! Once a week. I bet you those people over there (a random couple walking across the parking lot), I bet you they went out Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, yesterday, and tonight. And I bet you all of the people parked here did the same thing! Why can't they find something else to do?
Youngest child: Yeah, and it's not as though that guy (Points to a gentlemen who does seem to carry more than the usual weight around) needs it. Sheesh.
OK. Welcome to the DixieChick family after a long week. Anyway, fortunately for everyone in the car, we ended up at Longhorn's right after that little interlude, where there was only a ten minute wait, and we had a very enjoyable dinner.
But what's interesting about this whole episode is the fact that people in our town, and I think Americans in general, do eat out a whole lot. And I mean a lot. We have friends who will eat out about four, five times a week, and they are no exception. Most of my coworkers will go out for every lunch break. And not just to a Taco Bell or a McDonald's, no, they will go to an actual sit-down restaurant, and spend an enjoyable hour working their way through pasta, seafood, steak, and the salad bar. Most of my coworkers laugh at my little red lunchbox, and I'm pretty sure many friends have raised their eyebrows when we've told them we'd rather eat in because we've already gone out to eat once that week.
Now, admittedly, we are stingy people. Personally, I prefer it economically efficient, but the bottom line is, we love not wasting money. I have never met a man who keeps tracks of coupons the way my husband does, and I think he secretly gets really excited when I do things like pack a snackbag for our trip to Memphis so I won't have to buy that many lunches. Now, we will splurge on things like bikes, and shoes, and trips to Holland, but hell will freeze over before we exchange our travel mugs for a Starbucks coffee each morning, or go out to eat more than once a week. We even re-use ziplock bags (although, in all honesty, that is me trying to be environmentally friendly too). But let's just say we balk at having to turn the air on, because it means the days of teeny tiny electric bills are over. Just saying.
But even having said all of that, I do think eating out is a typical American thing. Dutch people might go out to have coffee, and if they're feeling particularly extravagant, some apple pie, but Americans will go out to eat. The main reason, I suspect, lies in the price. Today, the four of us shared two appetizers, had four main courses, three of which were steak, and four drinks, and our bill came to $65, and I thought it was. Absolutely. Ridiculously. Expensive. And-we-are-not-going-to-Longhorn's-in-a-long-while. Because usually the four of us can eat out for around $4o. Yes, my darling Dutch readers. Forty dollars. That equates maybe thirty Euros. For four people. That is about ten dollars per person. Now of course, we can cook for far less than that, but when you're extremely busy (like us), and don't mind spending a little more for some convenience (not like us), then you will probably be like most of our fellow Georgians, and eat out multiple times a week.
And that is why, when the DixieChick family finally decides to go out to eat, there is no room for us. Anywhere. And we're left with a restaurant that best resembles a barn. It's sad. Maybe next time we should follow the northern star, and that will take us to three kings who will feed us mirre and frankincense. (I heard there was gold in there too somewhere, that does sound like a plan!)
4 comments:
Same here, many restaurants with long waits, but the trick is to know the ones that are very good, but not so popular. Uno's was one of those tonight. Nowhere else can you get a lobster salad that cheap disguised on a "pizza"! But we do eat out a lot, way more than I ever did growing up in Holland (though we did eat out a lot in Africa, strange as it may sound). My mother hated cooking, but was forced to do so living in the little Dutch village. The moment she got to the US, that was it ;).
It's definitely an American thing, people here eat out a lot too. Not us. Most restaurants here don't meet our standards so we have home cooked meals most of the time.
But things would be very different if we were living in, say, Louisville or New York city... sigh.
We don't eat out much, just special occasions like tonight :)
I think you are spot on! Maybe I eat out once every three months? I don't even know, since it's so rare for me. Though you would think that there would be more restaurants in areas where people go to eat out more often.
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