I'll Eat Anything

Today, my friend Rick and I were talking in my office. It had been awhile since we'd had a good sit down chat, and our conversation ranged from the personal to the professional. At some point in the conversation, Rick looked at me and said, "You wanna go to lunch?" I thought about how, for the first time this week, I'd brought nothing to school with me to eat; I didn't need to think much further before I said, "Yeah!" As we walked to the parking lot together, Rick asked me where I wanted to eat. I didn't have a lot of time since I needed to get back to school for a mentoring meeting, so I suggested we eat at Tsing-Tao Restaurant in Clovis. It's close to campus and it's fast, especially when I order the special. The question is how good is the food?

I wasn't crazy about the dishes, nor did they look particularly appetizing. The soup tasted fine in spite of its pale color, but the lettuce was iceberg. Need I say more?

My chicken with green beans was a little better. I think the chicken might have been deep fried, the green beans were tough and tasteless, but the sauce was nice. All in all, it was . . . edible.

Rick enjoyed his kung pao chicken--the zucchini had a nice texture, the chicken and sauce were similar to mine, only more spicy.

Lunch was okay. I was comfortably full at the end of the meal. I had energy to go to my next activities. And I absolutely enjoyed the conversation and the company. At one point in the meal, Rick said, "You gotta remember, though, you're eating with me. Rick will eat anything." The thing is . . . so will I (ask my family. They think I eat "weird food."). The best thing about the meal was sharing it with a dear friend. You know where I have to end, don't you? With the fortune in my cookie: "You will have many friends when you need them." Rick's one of those friends.