Wygle Wide Web

A quiet field journal of digital archaeology. Reconstructing a life from 25+ years of digital traces, with occasional help from ChatGPT when things get weird or surprising.

la conga

as we enter the small ex-taco bell 24 hour mexican restaurant, a man is at the counter. waiting and looking at the menu i start to listen to the guy, but not knowing spanish, he words were lost on me, but i could tell he was trying to make a point. i couldn’t tell if he was mad at the service or something like that, or if he had something important to tell the workers behind the register. i do know that after he left, all three employees looked at each other with; a) a sigh of relieve, and b) an “what an idiot” look those in customer service know oh so well.

having not eaten at all today, it took me a while to figure out what my stomach could take. i chose the carne asada plate combo and grab a fork or two and dig in. stephanie is much easier, she already ate so is not wanting anything. it always seems that when i eat, she sits and talks. tonight was no different. we had a good conversation going. in the middle of my eating and her talking, two guys come in. every once in a while, i catch the one guys eye that is facing me, while the other just sits and eats. somewhere in the middle of my story (i lost the point) the guy with his back towards me turns and says “hey buddy! ever since we got here the lady hasn’t said a thing” while we both know that’s not true, we kind of laugh but i still apologize because i felt it necessary. steph turns and kindly assures him that it had been an even conversation and we were still laughing, mr. righteous indignation informed us that he didn’t find it funny and we each went back to our meals. the whole scene made for an uncomfortable dining experience until they left. after the two walk out, steph tells me that it wasn’t that she hadn’t said anything, it was that her back was to them, and both of us speaking quietly, she was sure they just didn’t hear her since they were facing the other way. i still feel bad about it though.

adam.

Archived source: Wayback Machine capture