I got back up around 8 p.m. and Anthony and I decided we were going to go find some Valentine's Day dinner.
Finding a sit down restaurant at 8 p.m. on Valentine's night that doesn't have a long wait is nearly impossible so we decided on Boston Market. I didn't think they would be terribly busy.
We pulled up in the parking lot at the location at Grant and Tanque Verde here in Tucson. My car was the only one in the parking lot. Apparently Boston Market isn't a popular Valentine's night destination.
We ordered our food and they put it in plastic containers and didn't give us a tray. They didn't ask if we were eating in or getting it to go. I wondered if it was a subtle hint to get the hell out after paying but no one said anything so we picked a table, pulled the food out of the bag, and starting eating. I discovered we had no silverware so I went up to the counter to ask. The employee said "Oh, I guess I'll find you some". She was smiling when she said it so I knew she was joking. I wonder if I had been eating mashed potatoes and gravy with my hands if she would have realized I was joking.
We were the only customers in the restaurant.
As we ate, employees started cleaning the dining room. It was about 8:50 p.m. I overheard someone who worked there say "ten minutes 'til close". That was followed by a woman who brought out a mop bucket and proceeded to slop the entire dining room. I looked over and the wet floor made it seem like we were two people stranded on a desert island with nothing but Chicken Carver sandwiches, mashed potatoes and gravy, and plastic forks and knives to survive. I am one of those people who feels bad walking on a newly mopped / wet tile floor. It was so wet that I wondered if we were going to have to sleep at the booth we were sitting in and get rescued by the Boston Market staff who would open the restaurant in the morning. I looked around for a lifeboat.
We finished dinner, put all of the containers, papers, plastic silverware and napkins into the plastic bag that it was served in, ventured across the vast wet tile landscape to the garbage receptacle, and asked an employee to let us out. It felt like we were survivors of a flooded land.
I'll eat at Boston Market again because I like the food. However, I'm sure I'll avoid it close to closing time unless I bring a life preserver and flare gun to signal passing vessels of our location.
Valentine's night next year may have a change of venue. I'm making reservations at Taco Bell.
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| Fancy dining at Boston Market on Valentine's Day... Served on the finest paper and plastic money can buy. |