You haven't lived...

...until you've eaten tater tots with chopsticks.

Every so often, Joe and I run away from the cats spend a night in a city a few hours away just for a change of scenery. We find the time in the car is great for conversations (and BOY do we ever have a lot to be conversating about lately) and it's nice to be away from home. The hotel is dirt cheap, especially this time of year, and it has all of the necessary amenities, like free wi-fi and a party elevator. As an added bonus, there is a Wegmans nearby so we can stock up on our beloved Upstate New York noms.

Part of our routine includes spending an evening people-watching at the hotel bar. Or sometimes, we end up being the people who are watched. Usually me more than Joe. We've been there just enough that the bartender now greets us by name, which is a sign of a really good bartender. Especially since we're only in there once every few months.

This past Saturday, we settled in with our beverages of choice and decided to order a snack of some sort. Oooh, tater tots! It's not every day that you see tater tots on the menu so we decided to go for it.

When they arrived, they came with chopsticks. Chopsticks for tater tots? I had always thought of them as finger food but I've been trying to master chopsticks so it seemed the universe was presenting me with an opportunity to practice.

Or at least I thought so, until our friendly bartender told us later that he just likes to serve the tater tots with chopsticks because it amuses him to watch the inebriated struggle with them.

Someday, maybe I'll learn the difference between messages from the universe and entertainment for bored bartenders. Until then, I'll be right here serving as a sideshow for the rest of you.