Taco 'heaven

A taco place in Blacksburg seemed like a good place to eat. We wanted to try it out...

We enter the dim establishment. I notice ivy and plants all around the greenhouse-like establishment. It was and still is not an accessible place. The exterior of the restaurant is white stucco with a greenhouse attached to the left. We had shellfish of some sort. We would pay dearly for this decision later.

The conversation was mediocre. I don’t remember much of it. I remember more about the place rather than the person I was with. The food was seemingly good. Hours later, we arrive home. We start feeling ill. My significant other went to the bathroom and threw up. A few minutes later, I shit my brains out. It wasn’t a pleasant night. Or, as my friend calls it, Explosive Diarrhea, ED for short. Perhaps he has the other type of ED as well. Hmmm, the things I ponder.

Another time, we had dinner at a Mexican restaurant. The food was mediocre but the service was horrible. They took hours to serve the people seated outside. At the table next to us, a good number of people just got up and left without paying the bill. It was apparent that this was what had happened because the server came out and acted upset by throwing his hands up while pacing around the table. 

It is now that I am realizing that my long time dinner companion had been taking me to crummy restaurants intentionally since he was probably taking his mistress out to nice restaurants around town.

He proposed at a local hotel restaurant. I didn’t like the quail. The proposal was expected so it took the air out of the bubble of excitement. The engagement ring, a combination of white gold and gold kept stabbing my left ring finger so he went to the jewelers, Kay’s, and had the dagger shaped gold tips soldered into the white gold so that it wouldn’t stab me. The ring was also too big for me to wear without fear of losing it. The signs were there. I was blinded by love so I ignored the signs. I wish he had broken it off when we were dating, before we even moved in together. I even think people tried to match me up with a mutual friend. He would have been a great match since he signs, is tall and nice. We went driving once in my Honda CRV when there was still ice/snow on the road. This was in Ellet Valley and I was going down a hill where there was a sizable strip of ice. I just rolled over it. He was impressed with my driving skills.

Another time, we went swimming at BAC. He’s partially sight challenged. I approached him in the water and he didn’t recognize me. He said, “You look like one of the kids” when he finally realized that I was the one who finally shouted his name after repeated efforts of calling out his name. See the thing is that I’m stone cold deaf when I don’t have my Cochlear Implant (CI) in and I just didn’t realize how loud pool environments are.

When we first met, it was at a graduate student hang out event. He showed me that he could sign. We spent the rest of the time talking to each other. At the end of the night, I had bequeathed him a sign name. It’s the ‘K’ sign hand shape in the motion of a rainbow. 

The conversation went like this:

K: “I’m not gaaay”. 

L: “You wear tye dye”.

K: “Can you come up with another sign?”.  

L: It’s stuck in my head–it’s too late. It fits.

K: <sigh>

Up till now, that little factoid has stayed between us. Now I’m just going to rub his face in it.

Perhaps this was society’s way of trying to tell me that my to-be was/is not a good person or match. I am tragically loyal. Now I’m not so much anymore. I’m sad I have lost that endearing characteristic. I just wish people had said something. I prefer bluntness… I just felt committed to my boyfriend at the time. It would have saved me 20 years of my life if someone had said, “Do not continue this relationship”. My mother effectively did the same by backing out of my wedding but I never listen to her because she’s a very controlling person. I just wanted to be free of her, which is why I went to college. My brother actively ran away multiple times. He finally jumped ship at age 15 by choosing our Dad to be the sole parent, effectively abandoning me with Mom. They tried to get me to jump ship too but when John left, Mom asked me to never leave her. That’s what I mean about being fatalistically loyal. In retrospect, I wonder what would have happened if I had jumped ship. It would have meant a stable life out in the weeds in Huntersville, NC. It would have meant that I would have never gone to Virginia Tech; hence, never meeting my ex. But I would have ended up an uneducated redneck like the rest of my family in NC. I think I’ve done well considering the boulder on my shoulders of society and disability. However, there are many people who think I should go out on permanent hiatus and never work again, a permanent mouth on the government teat. Well, I think I can contribute a lot if people would give me a chance. Many people with disabilities (pwd) start writing their life stories once society has deemed us worthless. Not I. Sometimes I feel that my coworkers and superiors do things to make me feel inept or incapable of doing the work. I always try to do things quietly to not ‘rock the boat’ but it is always a typhoon. Either way, not my choice at all but society makes it that way, for some reason. 

Once, I was dating someone and was over at their house. I was leaving the house to catch a ride to school. One of his neighbors that leases from him came over and told me, bluntly, that the person I was dating at the time was having women over in his hot tub. That was it. I broke up with him via email but still continued participating in Underwater Hockey because I love water. He was upset. The next boyfriend became my husband then ex. I wonder what would have happened if I had gone with . I would have been happier with him, I know that now. 

I am now fatefully back in the area where it all began. I hope it works out with the new job; however, it is in the same town as where my ex and his mistress, now wife, live. I’m never getting laid again. Some people would say I look slutty today or not professional enough. I think  my outfit is professional with a sexy edge. I’m wearing a red swag low cut silk top with a nice pinstripe jacket and black leggings. I don’t think that is unprofessional at all. I do not like the ‘stepford’ wives type of look. It’s just not my thing. Oh, also I have a cute bus driver. I don’t actually know which bus driver shows up in the mornings to take me to work. I just lucked out today. His cologne is nice. 

To finish off this story:

To this day, that restaurant is still there. The gall, the nerve! In fact, a coworker mentioned eating there and she liked the food. I will never go there again.