To Be, Or Not To Be...Gracious...

Okay, I'll admit it...I have a VERY hard time being gracious. I think it's one of those things that I'm capable of, but I haven't put enough practice into it to be good at it. One area I found this to be true in is at restaurants. When food is prepared for me in a restaurant, I expect it to be done just how I like it. If it doesn't come out the way I planned, I tend to get upset with the cook, the waitress, and everybody else within 10 feet of me. I know it's weird, but everybody's gotta have some kind of pet peeve, right?
This weekend we're on a girl date up in Maine. Laddie brought me, Beenieman, Mickey, and Creepy up here because Beenieman was playing her cello in a church service and we decided to make it girl weekend! Good times, good times :) While we're here, Laddie had some friends that she wanted to meet up with for supper. We ended up at a very small, but very cute Italian restaurant.

For an appetizer, I decided on calamari and Beeniman picked the mushroom cap. The mushroom cap was delicious, but the calamari was...well, it was "meh." To me, it tasted a little old and more rubbery than expected. But dipped in the tomato sauce and paired with a jalapeno pepper, it was much better!

I have to say, I was a little disappointed and annoyed with the calamari, but decided to let it side and order my main entre. I was having the HARDEST time trying to decide what I wanted! There was a pasta with prosciutto and asparagus sauce that looked really good, but there was also a mushroom dish that looked equally delicious. I finally decided on the prosciutto and asparagus...

It looked amazing on my plate, and I was soooo excited to try it! Unfortunately, I started getting extremely frusterated with my choice. The pasta was undercooked, the asparagus was overcooked, and the whole thing was extremely over salted. I guess you could say I was a little upset with the cook. They had NOT cooked my meal the way I wanted it done. What's the point of going out to eat if you're food is worse than home-cooked, right? On top of that, I had to ask for a refill, instead of being offered. I'm not a huge water drinker, so to have my empty glass of pepsi ignored by our waitress made me quite unhappy.

I know, I know...I was being really selfish...and ungraciour. The little restaurant was packed tonight and our waitress had just started working there. Instead of thinking about how overwhelmed the cook may have been and how stressed our waitress may have been, I was only thinking about myself and how uncomfortable I was.
It may seem like one of those small things that doesn't seem to make much of a difference, but I think it really does. I didn't say anything to the waitress about being unhappy with my experience, but that's not what I'm worried about. I was my selfish thoughts that I'm concerned with..and I'm sure I'm not the only one. I, and I'm sure other people, have fallen into a habit of thinking that the world revolves around one person...ourselves. In reality, the world should revolve around one person...Jesus Christ. No, He's not here in human form anymore, but that's what we Christians are for! Jesus lives in us, and we should be doing our very best to act, serve, and think like Jesus. My thoughts certainly weren't anything like what Jesus' would have been. Instead, they were selfish and ungrateful for what I'd been given. I think this is problem that we should all be careful of in ourselves. I know my personal goal is to think of others more than ourselves...just like Jesus would have and did...many times. I wonder if Jesus ever visited someone's house and didn't like the food they were serving? Whether or not He did, I guarantee he wouldn't have/didn't reacte the way I did!
*sigh* As I come to the end of another post, I have one more thing I'd like to say. Remember Brandolese? My goldfish? Well, she died the night I got her. Yes, I'll miss her forever...I feel like such a horrible mother! But to make up for it, I decided to go for it again. Beenieman and I went back out last week and I got another fish. I don't have pictures up yet, but she is ADORABLE! She's gold, obviously, but around the edge of her tail and on the tip of her fins is black. She's a stylish little fishy, and I named her Velena. (If you've seen The Expendables, the name should be familiar ;) As of today, she's still alive and well, so I'll try and put pictures up soon! Ciao!