Blogger 365 Day 171 - Freedom isn't free, but Friday is

So I am in the midst of my night of living free, or as close to it as I can get.  Sitting in Red Robin, burning off my free burger certificate, though I am actually getting the BBQ chicken sandwich instead.  Some would consider it almost criminal to be here and not be getting a burger, but just wasn't in a burgery kind of mood.

This is actually my second stop after work, I stopped at the movie theater and picked up my ticket for X-Men, which is showing at 7:20, so I have some time to just sit back and relax and enjoy dinner before going to the movie.  Getting my ticket early (which was also free) means I don't have to stand in line later on when more people will be trying to get in.

Yikes, my dinner showed up and I barely started the appetizer.  I got the pretzel bites, which are soft and warm and tasty, served with a yummy cheese sauce.  Apparently my dinner was brought by a food runner because the bartender (they seated me in the bar since I am flying solo this evening) just came over and apologized for not giving me enough time with the appetizer.  As if putting plates of food in front of me is a bad thing.  Really the only thing bad about sitting in the bar is that there are two TVs on over the bar, one is showing women's golf, the other is showing World Cup soccer.  You couldn't interest me less if you had gay porn on over the bar.  I know why soccer is on, as much as it bores me, we are in one of those sports media lulls that happens during every World Cup, where they try to convince us how much the United States is embracing soccer, when we are in fact not.  The spectacle is what has the attention of some, get back to me when the MLS fields a team that consistently plays in front of sell out crowds, or one that is competitive with their European counterparts.  Don't mistake a nation's poor attempt at patriotic fervor with actual sporting interest.

As for why women's golf is on, I think it is because a 12 or 13 year old amateur was competing.  I imagine the desire to have round three on TV was quashed when the girl shot 78-78 in rounds one and two.  Don't get me wrong, those scores are great for someone her age and certainly better than I would ever shoot, but I am not trying to compete with professionals.  Once you step on a course, field, platform, etc with people that are professionals at what they do, then the excuses for why one did not measure up need to be tossed out the window.   I say that now, before the stories that will follow tomorrow morning about how she did good for a girl her age.  And it says something about women's golf that one of the few ways it can get attention is through a spectacle and not the talent of the professionals who compete on a weekly basis.

For the record, men's golf isn't any better because on the men's tour the focus is still on Tiger Woods, who hasn't played in months and hasn't played well in probably better than a year now.   Imagine how it would feel if every day that you went to work your boss pined over someone who used to work there, constantly reminded you of how much better he was at your job than you are and could not wait for the day that other person returned just so you could be put back in your place where you belong.  That my friends is today's PGA.

Just finishing dinner, the BBQ chicken sandwich was awesome, I did get seconds on the bottomless fries, and now I am fat and happy.  Which is better than most days where I am just fat.  I am ready to pay my bill, just waiting on the check, though the bartender has been pretty busy, the pub section is filling up, but it is Friday night at dinner, so the fact they are getting busier is not a surprise.  In fact, the sooner I get my check, the sooner I will pay my bill so they can turn this table for more customers.  I did food service long enough to know it is partially about turnover if someone is looking to make a good evening's worth of dinero.  I am just down to 40 minutes till movie time, I would say I planned this out pretty well.

My check was 8 dollars and some odd change, I didn't really pay attention, I just left a $20 and rolled.  Even when I get a deal like I did tonight, I still tip based on what the check should have been versus what I actually paid, and my service was pretty outstanding, so leaving an extra ten bucks wasn't that big a thing.   Now I am sitting in the theater waiting for the movie to start.  I would have waited outside at one of the tables at Starbucks but it was raining and with a full belly my desire to have a post dinner coffee while sitting outside in the rain just wasn't there.  Maybe if the rain had held off I might be okay with it, but that wasn't a choice I had.

The bad thing about getting into the theater early is that I have to sit through ten minutes of commercials.  I miss the days where the only thing you used to see before a movie was a couple of previews.

I'm back, movie is over and it was pretty good.  Not necessarily the best movie I had ever seen but certainly not bad by any stretch.  Definitely worth the price of admission.  Now I am just waiting for the bus home.  My stomach still feels fat and full, and sitting in a chair for 2+ hours didn't do my knees any favors.  I think that may have been the longest I have sat in one place in quite some time.  Usually at work, or even at home, I have enough anxiousness about me that I can't sit still for that long.

I should probably bring this to a close though.  It is definitely long enough and I have less than two hours to email this to myself, and then copy and paste that email into Blogger.  So for now I bid you all a fond adieu or is that a blond fondue.  I am never sure about such things.