(no subject)
Last night we went out to that Tex Mex restaurant (yes, it was finally open) and it turned out to be better than I'd expected. Brad had these awesome fajitas and I had a beef burrito, that was the size of the whole freakin' plate. It was weird though...all of the menu was in Italian. Brad's order was "Manzo di Fagitas" and mine was "Manzo di Burrito". We took a stab in the dark, man. I knew that "pollo" meant chicken, so I went for the opposite of that..haha. I just hope I wasn't eating cat...
Afterwards we headed up to Gias to go hang out with Nick and Janel. We got there around 10 pm and didn't end up leaving till around 3:30 am. I swear that their living room has some kind of time portal in it, because time flies so fast there. Brad and I had never seen "Manchurian Candidate" so they put it in, and we liked it. I have to give it to Nick, he was right that there were a couple loose ends that the writer left that needed to be tied up. Other than that, I liked it. We brought them over "Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle" and we're supposed to bring over our "Family Guy" Season 3 whenever we go to "Grill Out" (a.k.a. "BBQ") tonight. It's kind of sad (and we were actually talking about this last night), all there really is to do around here, if you're married, is sit around a watch TV/movies. The movie theater on base sucks ass...but you only have to spend about $3.50 to see a movie (so I guess you get what you pay for). On the flip side, all there is to do if your single here is go to the "Cal-Bar" (California Bar) and get trashed. I remember when we first got here, Nick and Janel's house was the place to be if you were in their Ammo Shop...all their coworkers were there getting trashed (and of course me too). But the single guys would get wasted and want to leave to get even more wasted at the Cal-Bar...it was stupid, they were stupid (and rude for just basically saying, "Your party sucks, we're leaving.."). So Nick finally made up some reason for everyone not to come over...of course, Brad and I are sceazy like everyone else (and I'm really good friends with Janel, and Brad with Nick) so we still came over...and still do.
It was cool though...we talked about the politics of America. Nick's 26 (I think) and Janel's 21, and they're both about as idealistic as Brad and I are (I've been known to hop onto one pedestal, or three). Nick's gained new perspective about the South..and we've gained new perspective about the Mid-West. What we finally came up with is that, while we're still pretty fucked (no matter where you live in America)...Italy still has nothing on the States.
Case in point: Customer Service (my favorite bitch about Italy). While the food was awesome at Tex Mex (and at the "Cinese" restaurant we go to), the willingness and courteousness of the wait-staff at these places is NON-existent. "Why?" you may ask...The number one reason is this: The servers do not work for tips. Italy charges you a "Sitting Down Fee" for just coming to their damn restaurant (no matter how pleased/unpleased you are with their service, this factors is already put into your bill). Forget all the comforts of an American restaurant...you won't find any ice in your cup of soda or tea (if they even have tea), you won't find "special orders" (so you better get used to picking out whatever you're allergic to, or don't like), and if you should even try to ask for something else, or some more of something, expect to get your head bitten off because you didn't have the foresite to see you'd eventually want more! I'm telling you, we ordered our appetizer (nachos) and our meal and drink at one time - then, the waiter brought our nachos, then our meal...and that was the last we saw of him (WE WERE THE ONLY PEOPLE IN THERE!...there was no "wait" or anything!) And we smiled, thanked them profusely, and left because...hell, we're used to it by now. I think I'll be in for quite a culture shock when I get back the grand 'ol U.S.A.
God bless 'em!