Sunday, at The Olive Garden

As you may remember on Sundays I usually take my son out to lunch at some reasonably priced family restaurant. The Olive Garden & Applebees are 2 of his favorites. (We can't go anyplace witha buffet - even a salad bar like Ruby Tuesday - because he is too unpredictable around so many open food dishes.) (This is my son with autism.)

I like Olive Garden food, and lunch with Max is often entertaining on a variety of levels. We had a new waitress this time - one who had never met Max.

The hostess seated us. Max reads very fast and talks even faster. So within 15-20 seconds of being seated Max has skimmed the menu, told me which 5 things he wants to order, I have countered with the 3 things I am willing to order for him, and we have agreed that dessert is a "maybe". Dessert is always a "maybe" in case I need a behavioral bribe reinforcer at some point.

So while the approaching waitress is still 2 steps from our table Max looks up, makes eye-contact and says
"hellowaitressIwantonetwoandthreethankyouverymuchgoodbye."
Then smiles & waits. The waitress of course has never experienced someone talking to her without any inflection whatsoever & at total hyperspeed. She is also trying to take it all in while just looking at Max who is 6'2", wearing chainsaw ear-covers (because he has hypersensitive hearing), and is now smiling expectantly like the Chesshire Cat.

I wait a beat, then I also say hello, tell her we are ready to order right away, repeat Max's order and add my own. She's an okay waitress - she gets over her first WTH moment, pulls it all together and is appropriately kind & courteous to Max at all times. Lunch is uneventful. We get a few curious looks, mostly because of the ear covers.

Meanwhile the family at a table close by are behaving completely weird! Mom and dad are totally involved with another couple at their table. Their son (I presume) a boy about 6 y.o. is having his own private Talk Like A Pirate Day. Lots of ARGHH!s and Matey talk. He wields his knife like sword but is pretty much ignored. His 4 y.o. sister, an adorable little blonde, only meows. She meows through the whole meal. If someone says something to her she meows in reply. She also meows after every few bites of food. Meow, meow, meow. No words.

And yet? My table is the weird table. Which I agree with in general--but it just seems funny to me.

Max ignores them. He doesn't care about meowing or pirates - just his lunch. He was very well-behaved and got cheesecake for dessert.