Day 17 - Out To Eat -- For The First Time

Today, a good friend called and asked if I wanted to meet and grab some dinner.  We hadn't seen each other in awhile and my first impulse was to say yes.  But then, I had to think.  Was I ready to face the challenges of walking into a restaurant, scanning the menu and making the right choices?  We'd decided to go to a place that was a favorite of mine in my pre-vegan days.  But I'd never really paid attention to the offerings available to anyone who didn't eat meat . . . . or dairy . . . .  or fat.  I decided to eat something before I left, then tucked a bottle of my fat-free salad dressing into my bag.

I got there a few minutes early and ordered an iced tea.  Along with the drinks came a basket of the best tortilla chips and two dips, a spicy ranch and the traditional smoky salsa.  It was really hard not to reach out and start munching, but since I'd eaten before I left home, I wasn't hungry enough to give in.

In the end, there wasn't anything on the menu as printed that fit into my vegan plan, but I simply asked the waitress if I could have a salad with only fruits and vegetables on it and with dressing on the side.  I ended up with spring greens topped with mandarin oranges, sliced pears, cucumbers, and cherry tomatoes.  There was also a side of candied walnuts and I indulged in a few of those.

So, in the end, I made it through my first dinner out without any problem at all.  But I have come to appreciate the difficulty that vegans have eating in regular restaurants.  The only upside to he food was that hhe salad gave me my leafy greens for the day, which is part of my plan that I don't always pay attention to.  And I had a nice time without being over-anxious about food, since there really wasn't any food to worry over.  But this dinner, unlike those in the past, really wasn't about the food.  It was about the company and the conversation.  Maybe that's what it needs to be about from now on.