  Tuesday night was spent with my former roommates Mimi and Margarita and Margarita's boyfriend Paul,  who was a part- time roommate over my two years at UCSC.  The four of us and our other part time roommate over winter quarter,  my dear friend Bri,  ate at my favorite restaurant The Saturn Cafe.
 The Saturn Cafe was out of rootbeer ( it is always out of something)  so Margarita and I decided to order Dr.  Becker,  which is an organic non- caffeinated version of Dr.
 Pepper. so we thought,  how much different could it be?  and we ordered it. Well,  let me tell you.
it was god- awful. it tasted like carbonated cough syrup to me. Margarita made the better comparison to a watered down slurpee with coke added to it. that's coca- cola,
 not cocaine to any of you sniffers or gum rubbers out there. in any case it was sent back and we each got a RC cola which I typically do not care for,  but having the taste of Dr.  Putrid in my mouth,  the RC cola wasn't so bad. After dinner and one drink (
well I had two)  at the fancy place Shadow Brook where Bri's boyfriend Roger works we left Margarita to her work on her thesis and left Bri and Roger to their sleeping or some form there of. and Mimi,  Paul,  and I went to the Red Room for a couple more drinks.  We sat at the bar and ordered our drinks and the 40 year old man sitting next to me talking on his cell phone smiled and then finished his conversation outside.
when the man came back he asked what I was up to tonight. I said having some drinks with my friends,  indicating Mimi and Paul.  Mimi said hello and introduced herself and then Paul did the same following with,  " and this is my sister Shannon"
 And so the lies begin. The man's name is Seisel. yes,  you read that correctly. Seisel. in my mind he was named seasalt.
 After our introduction Paul asked randomly,  " Hey Shannon,  what is the color of Arby's? Arby's?  The roast beef place?
 I respond. Yeah. Um. brown and yellow?  I venture. What's this all about?
 asked seasalt in his feminine voice. Paul repeats his question to the condiment. brown and yellow"  seasalt replies,  unoriginally I might add. No"
 Paul says,  " brown and orange" Oh"  I say,  wondering why we are even talking about this.
 And then suddenly I was reminded of the time,  the one and only time I have been to Arby's.  I was with my not so likeable neighbor Meagan and her not so likeable mother Gail.  I was seven,  and I had to pee. and the restrooms cost a quarter to open.
and Gail wouldn't give me a quarter,  so I had to hold it and it was terrible.  And that story reminded me of the time when I was little and I couldn't pronounce my " r" s and so instead of girl I would say guhl. and whenever I saw Gail she would squawk "
say girl,  say girl"  to which I responded with " guhl"  and then she would laugh at me and I would go home crying.  Imagine,
 a grown woman laughing at a little girl. stupid bitch ( I love how initially instead of typing " stupid bitch"  I was thinking of typing " how insecure she must have been"
 but I like stupid bitch better) And now back to the story at hand. Then seasalt asks me,  " do you work at Arby's? Yes"
 I say. Oh,  okay" I actually don't"  seasalt opens his thin lipped mouth in mock surprise,  "
you lied to me. No I didn't,  I was just trying it on.  I wanted to see what it would be like to say that I worked at Arby's,  I didn't like how it fit.  so I didn't lie to you,
 not really. on a side note my brother Paul is a chef at a restaurant in Pacific Grove" Oh really?  I love to cook" Of course you do"  I think,
 " you're a condiment"  This started seasalt on a cooking tangent telling Paul all about his love for cooking. to which Paul could care less about. Then seasalt looks at me and says,  "
You have lovely shaped eyes" uh. thanks,  that's a first"  " No,
 they are lovely,  a little sad,  but lovely" I thought about saying,  " yes,
 my best friend committed suicide two weeks ago,  so um,  yeah. I suppose they would be a bit sad,  now wouldn't they?  But I didn't.
He continued,  " they are slightly almond shaped" Oh"  I said,  thinking,
 " don't people with down- sydrome have almond shaped eyes?  I thought about saying,  " I am no downie,
 sir.  But I didn't. Then I turned to face Mimi and she said,  " I have never noticed the lovely shape of your eyes before" I smile and look at seasalt,
 he heard and then left shortly thereafter. and Mimi,  Paul,  and I laughed.
