Day 27 - Get a Free Taste Test at a Restaurant

Date: February 2nd, 2010

One of the main reasons that I undertook this project was so that I'd stop missing opportunities to do things I hadn't done before.  I'm at the point now where I think its fair to call me famously unobservant.  You remember the hot chocolate coupon I gave to a little girl on Sunday?  Well, here's the thing... I started looking around for someone to give it to.  I was standing no more than five feet away from a very cute, very sweet, very cold looking little girl.  I basically didn't see her and kept scanning the crowd.  Justin pointed her out to me between polite peels of laughter.

That's how I was with everything for most of my life.  I'm happy and spacey.  Off in my own world.  Its pleasant here.  I don't see the problem.  That being said - I wanted to get myself to a place where I'd be constantly looking for new things to experience and noticing if something new just kind of... happened.  My plan today was to go to play rehearsal and then head over to a local bar to participate in bar trivia.  That is not what I did today, as the title indicates.

There is a lot of comfort in the familiar.  In as much as I've been running screaming from my box, it was nice to climb back inside for an evening and go to the restaurant that has been my favorite eatery in Ann Arbor for on about seven years.  I'm talking, of course, about China Gate.  Home to the best crab rangoon this side of anywhere, amazing chow fun and booths of the plushest pleather.  I started going there my freshman year when I needed to get away from... my roommate.  I've been going there about once a month ever since.

Over time I got to know a couple of the waitresses, which made the place even more of a comfort zone for me.  I felt comfortable going there when I was in a great mood and being able to tell someone about my day just like I felt comfortable going there when life was getting me down and I needed to be alone.  Its just kind of... my place in Ann Arbor.  And today it had been at least a month since the last time I was there.  It was time.

In a noticeable deviation from my choices this past month, I ordered the same meal I order every time I'm in there.  In fact, my favorite waitress was working tonight and she didn't even ask what I wanted.  She gave me the "so, the usual?" look and I agreed.  Then I relaxed and took out my script in a vain attempt to be off book before rehearsal in an hour.  It was an extravaganza of experiences I've already had and loved.

About halfway through the meal, my waitress brought a little plate of something over to the table and set it down.  She explained that the restaurant makes sweet sticky rice jellies for Chinese New Year every year.  They only do it around Chinese New Year (which is February 14th this year) and they don't really advertise it, but she thought I'd enjoy them.

Now, that's never happened to me before.  I've never had someone offer me a new food at a restaurant, for free, just because they thought I'd like it.  Or, I suppose I should clarify - I've never noticed anything like that happening.  I decided to save bar trivia for another night and write about this because part of the reason I'm doing this project is to teach myself how to pay better attention to the world around me when it hands me something new and interesting.  Today it did that.  I'd never had rice jellies like that before and I'd never been offered a taste test of something at a restaurant just because the waiter/waitress thought I'd like it.

 

Pictured: Delicious and New.

Pictured: Delicious and Partially Digested.

I've noticed since I started that a lot of... I guess... happier... experiences have been the daily norm for me now.  I can't say for sure, but I really do think that she wouldn't have offered those delightful delicious little treats to me a couple months ago.  I don't think I acted like I'd be interested in trying random new things.  I'm definitely on the lookout for it now though - and it seems to be making a difference.

 

My fortune cookie agrees.