"Appetizers" at Chili's

appetizers: \ˈa-pə-ˌtī-zərz\ noun food and drink consumed in the presence of friends combined with chit-chat and banter enfolding various discourses regarding current events (from personal to world-wide), education and educators, politics, religion, culture and the arts, and and the cures for all that ails us


When my friend Molly lived in Germany, she and some teacher friends would head to La Cantina, a local Mexican restaurant, for appetizers after school once a week. When a Chili's opened on base here at Yokosuka, Molly reinstituted the tradition, and pretty much once a week Molly and I would meet at Chili's after school. Sometimes Jennell or Tamara or Stephanie or Sherri or Lee Ann or any combination thereof would show up too, but Molly and I became the committed core of the event: if for any reason either of us couldn't come, we would reschedule.

For Molly and me, "appetizers" meant dinner, and a 3:30 in the afternoon time frame never deterred us. Molly drank iced tea--upgraded to a real Coke on a "hard" day--while I guzzled Diet Coke any and every day, and we both evolved into diners ever loyal to the same order: Chili's Guiltless Grilled Salmon served with steamed brocolli and a cup of Chili's black beans. (Chili's recently downsized portions for this order--it no longer includes the cup of black beans--and upsized the overall price!)

At least half the time Molly and I did "appetizers" with just us. After debriefing our day, our week, and the current status of our lives--discussions typical of any of the gatherings for "appetizers"--the two of us would launch into discussions of current events (we both follow the news) and the politics entangled in those events (we both have opinions, too)--discussions not so typical when others were in attendance because that addage about discussing politics and religion seemed to come into play as others would become visibly uncomfortable. By the time we left, we pretty much had all facets of life and the world analyzed and potentially "fixed" ... nevermind our extraordinary deficits on the power scale.

Last July Molly took a job on a military base stateside, and before I returned to Japan in August, she was already packed out and gone. Still, about once every week to ten days, I head to Chili's after school on my own. I sit in a booth--never at the bar--and I order a Diet Coke and the Guiltless Grilled Salmon (believe it or not, nobody else does salmon quite as good as Chili's). Then I read--my current destresser/debriefing technique--sometimes a book but usually a magazine: The New Yorker (I bought a subscription this year), Runners' World (I have kept an ongoing subscription since my brother Dan recommended this magazine to me when I agreed with trepidation to coach cross country that one year) or Time (I sporadically purchase a copy at the NEX).

Miss you, Molly!