Out To Dinner Instead

Well, change of plan at the last minute. We decided to go out to our friendly neighbourhood family restaurant for dinner. It's a lovely cozy place situated on a corner. From inside looking out, the point where the windows intersect lines up perfectly with the center point of the busy intersection over which we preside. I bounce between adult conversation with my husband, watching mesmerizing car choreography to being entertained by our 2 year old's conversational skills. The waitress asks him if he would like ice in his glass. "Oh! Yes pea's." Then he says he'd have the 'spudgetti bonalaise'.

It seemed like a lovely Friday night out when a guy charges in and yells to the owner, "The TAB is being robbed! Call the police!" The owner races to the phone, locks the doors and as we are all watching, a car races off. The teenage boy at the front window gets the license and description. I learn later that the two men were armed with machete's. The TAB is the next business over.

Our 2 year old knows somethings amiss and asks over and over again, "What's going on? What happened next door? What's wrong?" He sits in our laps for the rest of dinner. This is an example of our conversation for the rest of the evening.

Him: What happened?
Me: The business next door was robbed.
Him: WHY??
Me: Because the robbers wanted money.
Him: WHY??
Me: I don't know why.
Him: Why'd those bad men do that? What's robbed?
Me: Because they were bad. They took something that wasn't theirs.
Him: They were naughty?
Me: Yes, they were.
Him: I eat them up. They go to their rooms and sit down.
Me: They should, shouldn't they.
Him: WHY???
Me: Because they were bad and naughty.
Him: Why'd they do that? Where'd they go?
Me: I don't know why. I guess they wanted money. They drove away now.
Him: Where?
Me: Down the road.
Him: WHY?
Me: (Sigh.........)
Him: I don't know why they did that....Why they do that?
Me: It was wrong, wasn't it.
Him: They took other people money. That not good. WHY??
Me: It didn't belong to them. It was wrong.
Him: I think they need money. They need to get own money. That money not theirs. They run and run and grab away and make person cry and cry. That not good. They should just have own money.
Me: You got that right. That is exactly so.

And so it went, round and round until we got home and he saw the neighbour's cat, who distracted him wonderfully. It's amazing to think about how one little change in plans can be so vitally important, leading one down an entirely different path. We weren't hurt, we didn't even see it because of our angle in the restaurant. When we walked in, I went for the furthest table rather than the window table. It's one of those instances that highlights how every action has a consequence, whether we know it or not. So often, we just don't pay attention, we are not aware or things seem inconsequential. But nothing is ever inconsequential. Even the smallest flicker ripples. Tonight, we went out simply because we both felt a bit too knackered to deal with turnips.

While sitting on our boy's bed as he went to sleep, I puzzled through my possible actions if someone were to have come at us with a machete. My husband did the same.