Chuh-bah-tuh

Hi.  Sorry for my absence.  G has been having some ..challenges.  As in, "When the 4-year-old stays awake until 10:30 pm two nights in a row, it results in ..challenges."

But Joseph & I had a blog-worthy experience this morning.

I think I mentioned that he & I have the best-ever tradition.  Whenever his school has a late-start day, then I use an hour of vacation time and take him out for coffee.  He thinks it's great to bypass taking the bus and get some yummy coffee.  I think it's a brilliant way to trick my teenager into spending some time with me. 

Late-start coffee was at Panera today.  The nice thing about Panera is that besides coffee, one can also get a breakfast sandwich.  Joseph ordered an Egg & Cheese Ciabatta.  I noticed that he seemed to have pronounced Ciabatta incorrectly.  I wanted him to learn the correct pronounciation, but of course I didn't want to embarrass/correct him, so I simply asked the cashier how the name of the bread was pronounced.

Cashier: What?
Me (repeating): How do you pronounce the name of that bread?
Cashier: What?
Me (louder): That bread he just ordered - how is it pronounced?
Deaf cashier: What, Honey?  I can't hear you!
Me (regretting my decision): I JUST WANTED TO KNOW HOW TO SAY THE NAME OF THAT BREAD.
Deaf Cashier: YOU WANT SOME OF THIS BREAD OVER HERE? (grabbing a random loaf of oatbran from behind her, while the line builds behind me)

Suddenly, the event took on an other-worldly feel.  In rapid succession, the following happened...

To my left, the Barista couldn't take it any longer.  She started shouting over to me: "CIABATTA!  THE BREAD IS CALLED CIABATTA!"

To my right, a man joined in.  So close to me that he was practically sitting on my shoulder.  My Italian shoulder angel: "CIABATTA!  LIKE CIAO WITHOUT THE O!  LIKE 'CIAO BELLA!"

Deaf cashier caught on (somewhat).  She piped in: "YEAH - CIABATTA - PRONOUNCED JUST LIKE IT LOOKS!"  (huh?!?)

Throughout this exchange, no one seemed to be annoyed at the random waste of time.  Everyone was just excited to jump in with their Ciabatta insights.  Honestly, I would not have been surprised if a Ciabatta Flash Mob had broken out.  Very strange.

Later, as we were leaving, Joseph pointed out a gawker.  Sure enough, the woman found us so interesting that she did a full-body swivel to watch us walk by.  Joseph shook his head, "Poor woman.  We could've really made her day if only G was with us."

Good times at Panera.