(Welcome to my latest exercise in an attempt to reach my goal of being a prolific writer in 2022. So, in addition to writing 1 short story each week ( Because Ray Bradbury said you can’t write 52 bad ones – challenge accepted!) I will be attempting to post an original poem each day in April. This is not going to be easy – I’ve not really written poetry since college. So, these will be thrown together each day and not very edited.

I can hear you now – sucky stories and bad poetry? Sign me up.

For more information about the blogging challenge, see http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/)

Caveat…

But first, a caveat…

My father told us as we waited to be seated at the Holiday Inn restaurant.
To us, this was the finest of fine dining
(Although I am sure, some of you are laughing at our lack of taste.)

But first, a caveat…
No wasting of food
If you order it, you will eat it
We don’t spend money like this every day
(as if we don’t finish the food on our plate, we won’t be able to afford the house anymore.)

But first, a caveat

Any place where the water glasses were constantly refilled was classy, to me.
And because I was raised to be polite
We were raised to be polite
We drank all the water they gave us
until the exasperated busboy left the pitcher on the table.

but first, a caveat…

The Holiday Inn Restaurant menu
It was a classy place because the waitresses in the corner were wiping menus
it was a classy place because the breakfast menu was separate.
This wasn’t Denny’s, where you could get breakfast all-day
It was the kind of place where people ate meals

the correct food at the correct time

But first a caveat….

I studied the menu, searching

I must have read the appetizer section a dozen times
When the waitress came to me
(Classy place, her uniform was black and white, with a silver engraved name tag “Peg”
no Dynamo tape on a piece of plastic for our Peg)

I started to panic, I couldn’t find it
Peg asked gently, “Sweetie, have you decided?
“I can’t find it.”

She leaned over my menu and whispered, “What are you looking for?”

I pointed at the appetizer menu. “I see the cowboy caviar, but where is the caveat?”