Hometown Hotties

Tonight I took a long walk in my hometown with a good friend. It felt great to get out of the house, talk, laugh, and burn some calories at the same time. She's not originally from here so I enjoyed pointing out landmarks and their importance and smiling to myself at random special places that I remember. As a kid, I rode these same sidewalks on my bike going to the liquor store where they had water balloons for a penny a piece.

We were dressed in yoga pants, sports bras, tank tops, and tennis shoes. I felt freer just by not holding somebody's hand and walking at the pace I wanted.

Just then, an older-looking gentleman in an SUV stopped at the stop sign to let us pass in front of him. I'm pretty sure he sat there a little too long. We continued babbling on about family, church, and whatever when there was another sighting. A guy on a bicycle passed us, nodded, and rang the bell on his bike. It begs the question; does he ride a bike because he lost his license from a DUI?

Although my friend is beautiful, I continued to be amazed that we were drawing such obvious attention. Don't people walk around this town in yoga pants all the time? In fact, don't most people around here wear yoga pants for everything but their own wedding?

It happened several more times. I wondered if we told these people we have seven children between the two of us, would they still be interested. Another older gentlemen on a bike (whose kid I graduated with) smiled rather friendly and three guys in a car yelled out the windows. My personal favorite for the evening however was the two guys on motorcycles who yelled at the stop sign. They said something about watching for three blocks. My friend reminded me that McDonalds is three blocks from there so maybe they were headed there. Unfortunately, they ended their loud comment with "babe!" I don't think boys talk to each other like that.

Is it wrong to smile even if it's false flattery? It made me laugh anyway.

Too Friendly?

So we have had to say goodbye to the myriad of people with whom we are acquainted. This sounds easier than it is, as each visit requires a few hours. I'm not saying my friends and family are burdensome, just that I want every minute of every visit to be worthwhile.

Which brings me to my recent visit at a local chain restaurant which shall remain nameless. Let's just say that all the ladies who are servers wear ties and mostly serve pasta. If you've been there, you know what I'm talking about.

My husband and I waited at the bar with our friends until our table was ready and the red buzzing coaster went off. We headed to the host kiosk and awaited directions. The overly-smiling hostess said the classic "how are you tonight?" and we responded that we were fine.

In my mind, that's enough. Apparently not for miss chatty. She walked with her body forward and her head backward so as to engage us in brief, yet meaningful conversation. Really? I'm here with friends. I don't want to talk to you, I want to talk to them.

"what's the occasion tonight" she said.
Just dinner.
"Isn't the weather outside just beautiful?"
Yes.
"my boyfriend and I are going to the beach later"
That's nice.
"He's so great, he bought me flowers today."
Neat.

Now I've worked in the restaurant business and yes, the hostess is the first impression of the place, but if not for my love of five-cheese ziti, I would have turned around.

I half expected her to ask me to friend her on facebook or something. Was she trying to get my husband to pay her some attention? What was her motive? Does she need friends? what was worse is that my girl-friend and I were already having conversation and yet she kept butting in to add her unimportant questions and comments.

I'm not bitter. I just want that three minutes back. There definitely is a line that can be crossed with friendliness. May I advise, if you ask three questions and people answer with one word answers, they're probably not interested in conversing with you. Quit while you're ahead.