one dinner

on wednesday night i went to lentil as anything for dinner. i write about this place a lot, because i tend to eat there on the reg. it is a vegetarian buffet where you 'pay as you feel' but they are losing money so you should pay at least $10 for your meal and it is usually good food so they deserve it (or much more). 

i rode my bike there after a long day at uni writing my thesis. i was very tired but felt i could not go home because my housemates were meeting people to take my room when i go overseas. so i was meeting my friend gordon for dinner. he was going to be a little while so i sat down inside and waited for him. as i sat down this man said 'excuse me - your jacket is very nice, where'd you get it?' i was so dazed from the ride and feeling exhausted and then a little embarrassed because i didn't know what to say as i actually found the jacket in a pile of hard rubbish (when people leave old furniture etc on the street for the council to collect) a few years ago. i faltered. he said 'op shop?' and i figured i could tell a weird old man it was hard rubbish, plus he already thought it was nice so it probably wouldn't damage my reputation.

i sat for a while just waiting for gordon. i read some pages of 'the zinester's guide to nyc'. the (old) man spoke to me again. said he was a performance poet and he was writing poems about people who were at lentils that night. he gave me this piece of paper.

it is a horrible poem about how i have nice clothes and why am i having dinner alone. at the time i said 'aw thanks' and just went back to reading. i felt too tired to engage with him, plus i was worried he would try to hit on me (officially). so i probably seemed vapid or something. i was just immensely tired.  gordon arrived and i said his hair looked like a hitler youth. he said others had complimented him. i said that was cause all the people he knows are nazis. i was joking. and probably the poet thought i was dating gordon. i am not. after we ate gordon and i went on a lovely walk over this hill that looks over the abbotsford convent and you can see the city really nice and it was a lovely clear night and the lights were so pretty and i love this city.