Did anyone call for an exterminator?

Tonight was an eating out night. The husband was home in time for dinner…the first week night in a month and by sheer coincidence there wasn’t a thing I could feed him! Being in Texas we often opt for BBQ since I crave it while in Cali and there isn’t any place we have found yet that can match southern or TX BBQ. (I am from Alabama…Dreamland, Jim N Nicks or Costas anyone???) In the car we pile and off to the local BBQ dive that has all the animal heads on the wall! Yum yum.

About half way through dinner I swear I feel something furry graze the back of my heel. My initial thought was…boy they have some large rats in this joint! But then I rationalized and thought…hmmm the husband wants to play footsy. The dead carcasses on the wall must be putting him in the mood. I make a nonchalant half glance under the table to see where everyone’s legs are. Nothing doing because everyone’s legs were where they were supposed to be and there was nothing noticeable in my scope. The furriness was gone so I figure that it must have been a cool breeze maybe created by the emergency exit beside me.

No sooner had this thought crossed my mind that I felt it again and now it was going from my heel to around the top part of my foot. I quickly glance under the table…I’m going to catch it this time! Holy crap! It was no furry rat or gentle breeze. Oh no it was muuuuch better, it was a palmetto bug (American cockroach)! I start shaking my foot and eewwwing and I’m sure it looked like I was having some sort of episodic fit. My husband’s face turns all crooked as if he was saying come on woman you ordered the iced tea not a Long Island Ice Tea. I was doing my best not to scream and explain in a calm voice what I was doing. This of course meant that the children, I mean squealy grossed out girls heard what I was saying. Curiosity got the best of them and they had to peak under the table to see what I had shook off. They caught a glimpse of this thing and then proceeded to run around the table yelling, “Bug, bug, BIIIGGG Bug!”

Now my reaction then was to shush them. I didn’t want to make a scene and cause problems for this place of business. So I got them quiet and they hunkered down in a corner, far away from the critter. I placed my feet very ladylike in their empty chairs and finished my meal. No reason to worry folks unnecessarily.

Not until I got home did I start thinking that it probably didn’t matter if we had pointed out the obvious roach issue. I mean for goodness sakes, we were eating under an outstretched cow skin! Texans are used to big bugs and big everything for that matter. We wouldn’t have hurt business in the least. Instead, we would have become the talk of the town…honey remember when those “faureigners” who were at the Pit and had a conniption fit over that itty bitty roach? Whatever Texas, you can keep your bugs and mosquitoes for that matter! I can’t wait to head for the Hills!