Well, the substitute teacher gig went about as well as can be expected today. It renewed my admiration for the people who do that job for real.
Rather than post a lot of details, I will post a link tomorrow to the first-person story I’ve written for the T-G.
After leaving Central High School, I went to our new Chili’s, which will open Thursday, and where I had an appointment for a free staff training meal. I had the steak and portobello mushroom fajitas, which were marvelous. The server had upsold me rice and beans and a caesar salad (It’s not hard to upsell when the customer knows he’s not paying anything for the meal!). I was stuffed, and some of the food went to waste. When I was seated, they had handed me a slip of paper instructing me to order molten chocolate cake for dessert. Far be it from me to refuse a direct order, so I got it to go and took it back to the T-G newsroom to share with my co-workers.
Although the meal was free, they offered you the opportunity to contribute to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. I made a contribution and left a tip (which wasn’t strictly required), but still spent a lot less than the actual cost of my meal. I would also have had to pay for any alcoholic beverages if I’d ordered them.
Shelbyville is a small town and has relatively few of this particular niche of casual dining establishment — mainly Legends, which is a regional chain in southern Middle Tennessee, and Ruby Tuesday. So the opening of Chili’s is a Big Deal, and it was fun to get a sneak preview.
It was a busy day, but nothing compared to tomorrow. I must be at our school system central offices at 6:15 to accompany the school board on a fact-finding trip to the Chattanooga area related to Standardized School Attire. We’ll return around 4 p.m., and then at 6:15 p.m. and 7 p.m. I have county meetings to cover.
It will be a long day. It will also be my 45th birthday. My parents wanted to take me out to eat tomorrow, but — given the craziness of the schedule — I suggested we do it some other time. If we’re late getting back from Chattanooga, for example, I don’t want to have to rush through my birthday dinner in order to make it to Finance Committee.