The Asia Trip Begins With Awkward Moments at Sizzler

October 6th and 7th, 2008. Monday I sold my very last major possession to Karl Chevrolet in Ankeny, Iowa and got some last minute errands done. I also managed to get caught-up on work from the 3 days I took off. Tuesday morning, Sara’s parents wished us a teary and hearfelt goodbye.

Staying at Dale and Georgia’s was great. We really enjoyed being around them, we were able to get alot of work done, and we always felt comfortable too. If you’ve always wondered what it would be like if you had to go live with your parents/in-laws for 2 weeks, I have to tell you it’s nice. Thanks one more time to Dale and Georgia – I couldn’t ask for two better in-laws.

The weather was awesome too – yay Iowa!

Tuesday afternoon we arrived in San Francisco. The plan is to stay in SF for a day and rest so our trip to Beijing is a little bit more manageable (in terms of flight time and layovers). Tuesday night, after getting settled, we went to the 2nd closest restaurant within walking distance of our hotel – The Sizzler.

In case you didn’t know, old folks (a.k.a. “silver backs”) LUV a good deal. Sizzler is a good deal. Old folks like Sizzler (as do I). They also like to eat before 5pm. Sara and I were still on Iowa time, so we were starving to eat and we got to the restaurant at AARP happy hour. A couple of old men and a woman who appeared to be their nurse were sitting one table away from us. Here’s what we heard one of the old men say…

Conversation Heard at The Sizzler (besides me saying “Shooter – Sizzler – my treat!”):

Old man: (Speaking to Nurse) So you lost weight then?
Nurse: Yes.
Old man: How much?
Nurse: 17 lbs
Old man: 17?
Nurse: Yes.
Old man: Pounds? 17 pounds?
Nurse: Yes.
Old man: So how much do you weigh now? [I'm cringing one table away.]
Nurse: …[long pause]…190.
Old man: How much?
Nurse: [a little louder] 190.
Old man: How much?
Nurse: ONE-NINETY.
Old man: 1-9-0?
Nurse: [Sounding incredibly defeated] Yes.

At this point, I’m personally uncomfortable. I wish that I would have said something, but Sara told me (after the fact) that he’s probably just very old. This isn’t meant to be rude. Still, I heard the man ask his nurse a little earlier “Did menopause hurt?” I think he was trying to be a jerk.

Mission accomplished. Hopefully he’ll have an awkward and embarassing moment before he kicks off. My guess is that he’s probably had a few already. The question is – will he know he’s having an embarrasing moment when it happens?

Tomorrow (at 1 am) we fly to Hong Kong, layover for about an hour, then fly on to Beijing.