Sesame Chicken ... Hold the Spit Please

This evening our little family had dinner together at a tiny hole in the wall Chinese eatery. Bri and I sat at the table and she took her bottle while Hubster went to the counter and ordered our food. On most nights, it would be pretty boring to post about this event.

But there was one thing that set this evening apart from our normal family outings. Officer Hubster was in uniform and his patrol car was parked right outside. It was a really strange feeling. Almost like a spotlight was glaring down on our tiny family. We both huddled protectively around the baby. The people coming through the door had one of two automatic reactions. They either smiled at us like we were old friends or glared at us like we were terrorists. Even the man working the cash register treated us differently. He brought our food out to our table on a tray with a big goofy grin. Everyone else had to go back up to the counter when their order came up.

I could feel the tension swirling around us as people sat, waiting for their take-out orders. The cooks were yelling in angry Chinese voices behind me. Suddenly, our sweet family dinner seemed like a tiny raft amidst a turbulent ocean. I felt like we were making Officer Hubster a little too vulnerable. In the future, I think we'll do picnics in the park when we meet him for dinner. Neither of us really enjoyed being the center of so much attention.