Enablers

Saturday evening found me with Anne at the Texas Roadhouse, again. This time, we had not called ahead and wound up waiting quite a while to be seated. When we were finally at our booth, coincidentally in the same section where we sat last week, our server came to our table to introduce herself and take our drink orders. Her name was Mercedes and she was a smiley, young red-head.

When Mercedes asked if we had been to the restaurant before, I responded that we had been coming to Texas Roadhouse since Anne was about three or four years old -- and had been to locations in more than one State. This is about when Anne piped in that she was surprised Mercedes did not recognize us.

"After all," Anne said, gesturing to me, "she is 'famous.'" [Anne is such a smart-alec sometimes!] Mercedes looked back and forth between Anne and me as I put on a huge grin and Anne snorted, "She thinks she is famous." Then dropping her tone, "But she's not." Mercedes caught on to the joke right away and offered me her book of order slips to sign. (I did not sign it.)

A little while later, a manager came to our table to introduce himself and ask if everything was alright. In the middle of a bite (of course!) I reached out to shake his hand as I quickly swallowed. I was sure Mercedes had put him up to the visit, but she walked by as he was there and stopped to tell him that I am "famous."

The manager asked, "famous?" Oh, yes, Mercedes confirmed that I am famous.

"Famous for what?" the manager wanted to know.

Mercedes said, "She just is." The manager smiled and walked away.

About the end of our meal, I finally mentioned to the young waitress that she should check out my "hot, new" blog at storyunfolding.net. When I told her a little about it, her eyes grew a little bit wider. For the third time that evening, she offered me her ticket book to sign. This time, though, it was for real.

As Anne and I exited the restaurant, she remarked, "It must be nice for you to meet such an enabler."

I just laughed, "Yes, it is. But she is not as big an enabler as Natalie or Sorche." Anne agreed that the co-presidents of my fan club are the biggest enablers of all.

I have to admit to being a little frustrated by my daughter's stubborness. On the other hand, she comes by it honestly. (She gets it from me.) One day though, One day, she will believe me! [Would anybody out there like to masquerade as papparazzi??]