I had to pick Tom up from the airport at 8:45 last night and also needed to return something at a store at the Mall of America. So I decided I would go to the Mall of America straight from work to try and avoid rush hour traffic (mildly successful) and just kill time there. (p.s. now is probably the time to tell you I had not thought of this challenge stuff until I was actually faced with the challenge.) As I was making my second trip around the mall (that is like a lot of miles cuz that mall is HUGE) I realized I was starving and still had 2hrs until I had to pick up Tom. I didn't want to eat at the food court cuz I heard that's where the murders take place (I don't really know if that's true, but the people in the food court looked extra sketchy and I felt like they might want to murder me). I remembered walking by a few restaurants and decided I would find one that sounded good and go to dinner by myself (Challenge). I walked by a sushi place, but didn't feel like sushi (plus it was out in the middle of a major walkway and everyone would be able to see me sitting alone). I walked by a fancy grille place but decided I didn't need to spend $75 on my first dinner date alone. Then I came across the perfect place. A restaurant in a corner, a dark place, not too busy, and hidden behind a store. Now you may be thinking, "Molly this sounds sketchier than the food court!" and by my description you would be correct, however, this was The Rainforest Cafe! Perfect! I could duck in with the general shopping population thinking I was going to buy a cute giraffe onsie for my nephew and secretly sneak to the hostess to be seated. Unfortunately that's not quite how it worked.
I tried to sneak in, but some nosey zit faced kid at the entrance of the store asked if I was here to eat and my rumbling belly answered for him. He then said, "do you want to wait for the rest of your party or be seated?" I sheepishly answered, "It's only me tonight". He kind of smiled and said, "ok follow the green dinosaur tracks to the hostess table and they'll help you out."
Seriously kid, you had to ruin my plan? You couldn't have just let me walk by? You didn't even seat me.
As I followed the green dinosaur tracks through the store back to the hostess stand I seriously considered becoming anorexic and ditching the plan, but by the time I made my decision to leave I was at the end of the dinosaur tracks and a fat host man asked me how many for dinner? Really?!?! The zit faced kid didn't radio to you already that a looser was coming back to eat all by herself? Why do you have those ear pieces if you're not going to use them???
First dilemma of eating alone: what do you do when you have to go to the bathroom? I couldn't leave my purse, but I also didn't want them to think I left.
Answer: HOLD IT!
Second dilemma: but my hands are super dirty and I should probably wash them before I eat
Answer: Hand Sanitizer in your purse
Once my hands were sanitized I grabbed the menu to figure out what to order. I considered a Monkey Margarita but thought that made the situation even sadder and instead ordered a Sprite and a Chimichanga.
While I was waiting for my food to arrive I noticed the fish in the aquarium had all gathered around. It was like they knew I was alone. But then I could see their stupid judgy fish faces and realized they, like everyone else in the restaurant were judging me for eating alone. Here is their conversation:
Yep the fish were super mean to me :( BUT I will say the staff (after the zit kid and fat host) were super nice. They kept me company and even gave me a free dessert (they must have felt sorry for me too).
Overall, I wasn't totally traumatized and could definitely take myself to dinner again. Although I would prefer to have some friends along!
XOXO
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