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Wanna taco bout it?

Going out for dinner after a debate tournament is six parts necessity and six parts tradition. I’m usually exhausted and starving after putting in 20 hours of work at a neighboring school, but also starved for grown-up time: just a few hours not responsible for anyone else’s life or well-being but my own.

Searching for those hours on a Saturday night in St Louis can be tough. While I’m starving for time, I’m also starving for food, so my patience is short! Tonight brought me to a little taco place near where I live. The main restaurant had a 90-minute wait, which was never going to happen at 7 at night for this tired teacher.

Instead, my husband and I went a few doors down to what they called “the bodega,” but was really just a food window and a few tables tucked away from the cold. Our hot chicken tacos, shrimp tacos, and ludicrous steak nachos/fries were passed in paper containers through the window, and we sat underneath a bicycle suspended on the wall. The door kept opening to let more late night diners inside, but the cold air made the warmth feel warmer and the tacos tastier. We sat and talked about not much of anything – the silliness of Mardi Gras, the drama of qualifying tournaments, whether or not the mosquitoes in Louisiana would eat us alive if we were there right now – and when the little storefront closed at 9 p.m., we wandered back home happy, and slept well.

It’s amazing what taking just a little time to be your own person can do.

This time of year makes doing that difficult. I’m hopeful that this writing challenge will help me pay attention to the moments that make me feel most like myself, and capitalize on them.

(Though posted on the 3rd, this is definitely my slice for the 2nd! Extra post for today coming soon.)

Published inThoughtsWriting Challenges

One Comment

  1. Katie O

    This echoes how I felt last night. Thank goodness for weekends!

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