Sometimes, date night just has too much pressure surrounding it. Or is it that the cost of the entire evening is too much for me to swallow? This past weekend, we were nearly 30 minutes late for our dinner reservation because we couldn’t find parking. It was a beautiful summer night in a seaside town that was hopping with people. Mistake #1. When we finally find a spot on a side street, we walked another 5 or so minutes, got a lovely table indoors…only to have lackluster service–and that’s putting it mildly. By the time, we got our meals it was nearly 10 pm. Mistake #2. We couldn’t figure out why the kitchen couldn’t keep up with the orders as the restaurant was half-empty. While I should have savored what was a rather delicious meal, I wound up wolfing down my food because by then, I was frankly ready to eat the table. As we drove home and I calculated the cost of dinner and a sitter, I couldn’t help but think that the night wasn’t worth the aggravation. Next time, we’ll forgo fancy for fried rice and Peking duck.
