Joyce was away for my Birthday and Father's Day. She said she wanted to take our family to Gustos when she got back, wanted to treat me for my B-day and treat Kinya for Father's Day. She'd treated Keima to Starbucks for his birthday in May tho', so all he got was pudding...just kidding. He got a full meal; it's just that his parents paid for it!
I knew Kinya wanted Unagi, but since it's one of the more expensive dishes on the menu, he was going to order the less costly ground beef meal. Oh, not for the meal Joyce was going to treat him to! I asked if I could order Unagi then and count on him to eat what I couldn't finish, and he relented and said he'd get it himself. After seeing him order, I put in mine for the cheaper hamburger patty.
All the orders are delivered by kitty waiter now. I guess the novelty's worn off, and what used to be more brightly painted, I noticed, is just the store's round logo on a white background. Even the cat features which used to light up at least when the robot moved down the aisle no longer do; I guess the establishment wants to save up on battery expenses. And I suppose with commercialization, efficiency is the name of the game.
After the meal was over, Joyce went to pay for everything and realized we were facing a self-cash register.
Call me Old-fashioned. At 66, I'm allowed to be. When our family went out for dinner 60 yrs ago, we used to kid around with the waitresses (who learned our birthdays), took time looking at the menu, made a big deal about getting the order straight, and squabbled about the adding up the numbers. And I really think God smiled on us as we carried on like that, didn't think we were such a bother and left us alone to do it ourselves. We thanked him for such a blessed time too.
