Lunching With C

   C took a day off work so we could spend some time together. During December we try to go to downtown Minneapolis to walk around. A department store has a yearly seasonal display on one of the upper floors. C likes to look at it.
   It was a hectic morning. We had to buy a Christmas tree and get other errands done. We left for the city a little later than we wanted to. I was worried about traffic and about parking. It was Christmas and people were going to shop. I was hoping that places would not be too busy.
   C is great to ride with as he seldom gets lost.He also knows a lot of different routes to get to places. It didn't take us too long before we were downtown. We found a good parking ramp close to everyplace we wanted to go.
   We wandered through the skyways until we got to the department store. We wound around the different departments,taking mental notes of things we may want to look at later. We walked through the display.
    Neither of us were hungry yet, so we looked around the store a little more. We needed to buy some presents for people and both of us were looking for something to give the other. We wandered through the kitchen section, the sleepwear section, the men's section and accessories.
   C and I had noticed that there was a restaurant on the 12th floor. We decided to check it out.
We got on the escalator and started our way up.
   The restaurant was beautiful and elegant looking. The walls had dark panelling and there were tasteful Christmas decorations all around. One wall  had a large fireplace with a a heavy wood mantel. I looked at the people sitting at the tables. I didn't see anyone that wasn't dressed up. I was wearing my standard "going to town" outfit of jeans, a sweater and a pair of blue Naot shoes. I didn't see anyone in there wearing jeans. I was certain there had to be a dress code of some sort.
  I turned nervously to C and whispered, "I don't think we can eat here. We're not dressed for it."
  "What do you mean?" he asked.
"There's probably a dress code, " I whispered back. I tried to ease us away from the front of the restaurant.
  "Don't you want to eat here?" he asked.
  "Yes, but this is a very nice place, we aren't dressed for it." I replied looking around to make sure no one was watching us.
  "Nonsense," C said. He strode to the hostess stand and asked for a table. I stood off at a little distance thinking that he would be turned down. He wasn't. He walked over to me with a little pager in his hand. They were clearing a few tables so it would be about ten minutes.
  Outside the restaurant was a common area with a display of items from the store's past. There was a charge coin, a precursor to the credit card, and a small model of the first computer that kept track of sales. It took up a whole room. I'm amazed that the same things can be done on a computer small enough to fit on a table. There were pictures of past window displays and pictures of women taking tea in the tea room. I looked at those with a little envy. I'm glad that I live here and now, but sometimes I think it would be fun to dress up, put on a nice hat and have tea with my friends just like those ladies in the pictures.
   Our table was ready. We were seated at a table for two at the edge of one of the rooms. We had a good view of our fellow diners. There was a family enjoying a birthday lunch. There was an older couple with a younger woman, perhaps a daughter. There were several groups of women. I felt very sophisticated. This must be what they mean when they talk about "doing lunch".  This was a far cry from a quick meal grabbed in a rush. These people were taking a leisurely noon meal.
  Our server came and we gave her our order. C and I talked while we waited and occasionally stopped to look at people. C sized up the room for some potential pictures. We discussed what we needed to buy and the places we wanted to visit.
  The server brought our food. C had ordered a chicken pot pie. It was huge with a golden crust on top. He took a bite and declared that it was the best pot pie he had ever tasted. I sampled a bite. It was very good. I was conservative and had a hamburger. It was quite tasty and so were the fries that came with it. We ate quietly,enjoying our food.
  "Aren't you glad we came here?" C asked.
  "Yes," I said, "Can we come back again next year?"
  "Of course." He smiled and took another bite of his pie. "We can do this every year if you want."
  "I'd like that." I said.
   I've learned many things from C over the years and that day I had learned one more. I shouldn't let myself get intimidated so easy. I shouldn't assume that we would be turned away. If it had been up to me, we would have eaten in the cafeteria and I would have missed this experience.
  C on the other hand figured that he had nothing to lose by asking or trying. If we had been turned away, there were plenty of other places to go.
  I looked across the table at him and smiled. "Thank you," I said.
  He smiled back, "You're welcome."