ON FATE AND FOOD

This past weekend, my friend Chuck and I drove around Providence, waiting for inspiration to strike us in the form of "a place to eat." We both were open to new restaurant ideas and maybe some new tasty dishes (okay, okay, I was open to trying an old familiar dish from a new place). We didn't really have a deadline, other than the fact that we were both hungry.

I don't know what we were waiting for, in terms of inspiration - like the wind would blow a 75% off flyer for a steakhouse directly into the windshield or something. It was more of a "that place looks sketchy" or "I don't really feel like pizza" kind of inspiration.

When I was taking the train to improv classes in Chicago forever years ago, I would occasionally get to the loop early, then walk around and let the crosswalks guide me. I would get to an intersection and just go whichever way the "walk" signal led me. Eventually, I'd get to a place to eat, then find my way back, take my class, and go home. It seems very out of character for me to let fate decide my meals, but I offer this caveat: McDonald's has locations everywhere, and I would usually end up at one of them. You know, for good luck McNuggets before class.

If I lived in a city, I think I would be open to the idea of wandering around a little more and continue to let the crosswalks guide me. I mean, come on, there are pizza places everywhere in NYC - and it's hard to make offensively bad pizza. However, driving adds a whole different element to the situation, because one is often focused on "the traffic" and "not running over pedestrians" and junk like that.

Chuck and I? Well, we didn't end up at a McDonald's. Rather, it was a mid-priced Italian restaurant, where we both got chicken parm. Not that adventurous, but still...it was something new, and that's something.