Ramblings of a Failing Mind

Went to dinner tonight for the very first time to Texas Roadhouse.  Sara was craving steak like MAD, so I decided, against my better judgment (or is that just old age talking, another blog for another time), to go out to dinner tonight, a Friday night - in Lynchburg where the only thing people have to do is go to dinner.  Every single time we drive past this place the parking lot is so full, you’d swear it was a Japanese train during rush hour (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axwMxUBL_ws).  On the way in the parking lot indeed looked full but no worries, I was brave.  We found a couple who were literally grabbing tail in the parking lot and I interjected into their adolescent spit swapping and asked, “Have you guys been inside? Does it look real busy?”  To which the guy replied, “We just left and it didn’t look like many people were waiting.”  Onward quickly to the parking spot and head in to get our names down.  Inside they say “Just a couple minutes and we’ll have a booth ready.”  Only about 10 minutes later and sure enough we get a decent seat.  Although I must say that the booth was very small and left little to no room to even set my coat down with me much less Sara’s tote bag (she calls it a purse but I must say I think you can smuggle babies out of China in it).  The waitress was quick, friendly with the orders, drinks, and food.  She always made sure we had plenty to drink and that our food was in order.  Receiving the check however was another story.  It took a good 10 minutes before we could get our check, although I have to attribute this to the massive rush of Lynchburgians that have sieged the restaurant.  It wasn’t apparent at the time but soon as we paid and made our way out, it was going to be hard to miss.  When we got to the waiting area we found a litteral wall of people.  There were obviously people trying to leave, and there were people trying to sit but the area in which both were trying was not much more than 4′.  This was also filled with people waiting.  So where there could have been room to form an easy In/Out orgainzed procession, it was less than organized chaos.  To add to this fact, the staff did nothing to try to straighten it out.  I took a deep breath and dove head first into this mass and got about 1/2 way into the crowd when about four adults and four children started making their way in.  I looked at two of the adults directly in the eye and tried to politely make my intention known that we were here first and wanted to leave, and when we left there would be room for them to come in.  Instead the mother starts pushing the child in front of her trying to urge her to move on to where, I don’t know because there’s room for no one.  I enjoy mosh pits… when I’m not sick, not full from eating, and when there’s appropriate music playing which does not include country/pop music.  To Texas Roadhouse I implore you, either widen your entrance/exit, separate them, or make people wait else where besides in the “fire lane”.

Frequently I’ve noticed that whenever you are following a car that happens to have the handicapped stamp on their plates, not the rear view tags mind you, 9/10 times they end up doing something that makes me mumble, rant, and sometimes even curse Virginia for letting them continue to operate a death mobile, ie car, on the road.  Tonight for example, after having a wonderful dinner, we were leaving the little cul-de-sac where a multitude of restaurants exist, I pull up behind a silver sedan.  There’s nothing remarkable about this sedan, other than it has the handi-crap stamp.  I don’t say anything at first and wait patiently.  Until there’s a period of no oncomming traffic and they still do not pull out.  I start the beginning of the process… mumbling.  An oncomming car comes and leaves and nothing else in view, and still they do not pull out.  I begin the rant, “See! Every stinking time there’s a handicrapped, I mean handicapped license plate they can’t drive…”  They finally pull out, and proceed to drive a whooping 20mph in the left lane.  This is significant for two reasons.  First, the speedlimit is 35mph, and secondly, they are headed directly for the turning lane which just got a green arrow and the only car in the line to turn has made it’s exodus and there’s nothing in the way of getting to the light in time and safely I stress.  But nooooo, they just continue to drive at their less than mediocre pace, which in turn gets them and myself stuck behind the red light.  Here comes the most amazing part of the whole story.  They do that light creep thing now.  Where you creep forward a couple of inches every few seconds because you’re in a hurry.  Except this wonderful car doesn’t creep forward a few inches, it’s creeping forward feet, yes feeeet at a time, as if they plan to make a left hand turn on a red light as soon as they deem it clear.  They creep up so far that their rear bumper has now crossed beyond the point of no return (that thick white line that is your indication of not traveling past), and has placed the front of their car into the way of oncomming traffic that has the right of way.  And yet it doesn’t make them stop the creeping.  They continue their creep up until the point of the green arrow returning and giving us the nod to go on our way.