I was starving by the time lunch rolled around today, and I ran downstairs to the canteen to pick up the food I had ordered from our take-in restaurant. It comes in a styrofoam hotbox, full of little aluminium carryout containers for the people who ordered ahead. Today’s lunch was a beef patty with melted cheese and little fried potatoes with spinach. There is always a bowl of mixed salad as well, so I put everything on a plate and stopped to pick up utensils and napkins. Often, the kitchen personnel set out plates of leftover tomatoes and cucumbers from the breakfast buffet and today there was a little plate half full of yummy-looking ruby-red baby plum tomatoes. “Yum!” I thought and grabbed 3 of them and tossed them on top of my salad.
A guy behind me said something rude to me about not taking all the tomatoes, and I answered over my shoulder that I hadn’t, I had only taken 3 and then I went and got my drink and sat down to eat at one of the little tables in front, with Lena and Barbara. A few minutes later a couple of guys joined us, one of them the man who had been rude, and as he sat down I realized that he had the little plate of tomatoes along with a tupperware container with the rest of his lunch brought from home.
I could feel a horrible little lightbulb going off over my head. “Are those YOUR tomatoes??” I asked. They were. “Ohmygod, I thought the kitchen had set them out,” I babbled, falling all over myself in my horror and chagrin. I tried to give them back, but he wouldn’t take them. Not only were they his tomatoes, they were his HOMEGROWN tomatoes. Talk about embarrassing! *grimaces*
Every time I see him now, which is EVERY DAMN DAY, I’m sure I’ll be blushing bright red…appropriately tomato-like.
***
Mom & Judy took the kids to the Copenhagen Zoo this past Sunday while I was in Stockholm. They traded them in for a snake and a vampire bat. That snake on Martin’s face went all the way around behind his ear! 😀
They’re leaving tomorrow. I’m dropping them off in Lund for more shopping, and then they’ll take the train to Copenhagen after they’ve bolstered the Swedish economy a bit more. For 2 travelers who are supposed to be traveling LIGHT, they sure have bought a lot of stuff in the past 4 weeks. Today Anders took them, with the kids, to the home/shop of an old friend of his, who works with pewter and other metals, making all kinds of beautiful home accessories. He’s apparently branched out into jewelry as well, because all of us girls ended up with rings, even me.
It’s too soon for them to leave. I feel like they just got here and I’m really bummed that I had so little time to really spend with them.
Thanks to reebert, we have a great idea for a family costume ensemble, one that’s both easy to do and which doesn’t require a lot of work or shopping, although Karin’s outfit is having to be tweaked a bit to fit her idea of a proper Halloween costume. Which reminds me, it’s pumpkin-carving time this weekend!
Cracking Me Up: Ten Out of Ten For Style
Cracking Me Up Even More: Inanimation (scroll down)