For many years, I've had a penchant for writing summaries of events. I used to write weekly summaries for my work colleagues, which were bulleted lists of funny observations I had during the week. I extended this practice to summarizing big trips or visits. These summaries are a great way to capture the events, and they always bring back fond memories.
I started writing my summary for the visit from my best friend Steve. He is visiting Arizona for just over a week, and I've already got plenty of material. Here is a peek under the hood of how I create the summary.
Last night, we went to a restaurant in Tempe called Haji Baba for dinner. I've been going to Haji's since 2000, and Steve has been there many times as well. The place hasn't changed one bit. One side of the location is a grocery store, while the other side is the restaurant. The same servers and cooks are still there. There's one cook I refer to as Baba Booey because of his resemblance to Howard Stern's producer. They serve authentic middle-eastern food, and I order the same dish every time--the chicken shawarma plate. This plate includes boneless, marinated grilled chicken with garlic sauce, rice, hummus, salad, and hand-made pita. The hummus is the best I've ever had, and the garlic sauce referred to as "the dollop" is bursting with flavor. In fact, we used to rate the quality of the meal based on how much of a dollop we got. Sometimes it was an overwhelming amount leading to the feeling of a post-prandial split tongue.
We both ordered the same dish. I normally order water with the meal, but Steve observed that I ordered a yogurt drink. This was a change I made several years ago when I was traveling to a client in Baltimore. There was a fellow consultant from Nepal who had found an authentic Indian restaurant, and he insisted that I try a yogurt drink with the meal. Somehow, the two complemented each other. When I discovered that Haji's had the same yogurt drink, I began ordering one and even purchasing extra bottles to take home.
When the yogurt drink arrived, I shook it up and poured it into the glass with ice. Shaking is key as the components of the drink tend to separate. Steve was curious, so I had him taste it. He immediately declared that it was disgusting and said it tasted like sour milk. I suppose that's true, but I like it anyway. It turns out, I'm not the only one.
As we were sitting eating our meals, I noticed a customer walking out holding a yogurt drink in one hand and a plastic bag of yogurt drinks in the other. Mine was the uncarbonated version of the drink in a plastic bottle, but his was the carbonated version in a glass bottle. I watched as he opened his car door and placed the bag on the passenger seat. He closed the car door and began vigorously shaking the bottle. I knew what would happen, and sure enough, when he unscrewed the cap yogurt drink started spewing out and spraying all over the ground. Once the bubbles died down, the man started chugging that drink like it was the last one on earth. He took two big swigs, and then he got into his car where I saw him take one more long swig for good measure.
What are the odds that this feature of the dinner would be hilariously commemorated in such a manner? So that was the event, which made it to my summary with the following:
I started writing my summary for the visit from my best friend Steve. He is visiting Arizona for just over a week, and I've already got plenty of material. Here is a peek under the hood of how I create the summary.
Last night, we went to a restaurant in Tempe called Haji Baba for dinner. I've been going to Haji's since 2000, and Steve has been there many times as well. The place hasn't changed one bit. One side of the location is a grocery store, while the other side is the restaurant. The same servers and cooks are still there. There's one cook I refer to as Baba Booey because of his resemblance to Howard Stern's producer. They serve authentic middle-eastern food, and I order the same dish every time--the chicken shawarma plate. This plate includes boneless, marinated grilled chicken with garlic sauce, rice, hummus, salad, and hand-made pita. The hummus is the best I've ever had, and the garlic sauce referred to as "the dollop" is bursting with flavor. In fact, we used to rate the quality of the meal based on how much of a dollop we got. Sometimes it was an overwhelming amount leading to the feeling of a post-prandial split tongue.
We both ordered the same dish. I normally order water with the meal, but Steve observed that I ordered a yogurt drink. This was a change I made several years ago when I was traveling to a client in Baltimore. There was a fellow consultant from Nepal who had found an authentic Indian restaurant, and he insisted that I try a yogurt drink with the meal. Somehow, the two complemented each other. When I discovered that Haji's had the same yogurt drink, I began ordering one and even purchasing extra bottles to take home.
When the yogurt drink arrived, I shook it up and poured it into the glass with ice. Shaking is key as the components of the drink tend to separate. Steve was curious, so I had him taste it. He immediately declared that it was disgusting and said it tasted like sour milk. I suppose that's true, but I like it anyway. It turns out, I'm not the only one.
As we were sitting eating our meals, I noticed a customer walking out holding a yogurt drink in one hand and a plastic bag of yogurt drinks in the other. Mine was the uncarbonated version of the drink in a plastic bottle, but his was the carbonated version in a glass bottle. I watched as he opened his car door and placed the bag on the passenger seat. He closed the car door and began vigorously shaking the bottle. I knew what would happen, and sure enough, when he unscrewed the cap yogurt drink started spewing out and spraying all over the ground. Once the bubbles died down, the man started chugging that drink like it was the last one on earth. He took two big swigs, and then he got into his car where I saw him take one more long swig for good measure.
What are the odds that this feature of the dinner would be hilariously commemorated in such a manner? So that was the event, which made it to my summary with the following:
- Steve questions Brandon’s sanity after he enthusiastically orders and consumes what Steve deems “sour milk,” and Brandon notes a customer who is an even bigger fan
writing of such is actually my favorite.