Today I met L., one of my best friends, for lunch at a Panera Bread cafe. We got our meals, cracked open our Pellegrinos, and settled down for some lively (and slightly naughty) girl talk. And then...And then along came three priests and sat down beside us. We raised our eyebrows and opened our eyes really big and smiley at each other like you do when something deliciously unexpected comes along. It was as if we opened US magazine and saw the section called "Stars! They're Just Like Us!," where you see someone famous pumping their own gas or carrying a bottle of Evian and a yoga mat while they're smoking a cigarette. Only this was real life, and it was "Priests! They're Just Like Us!"
Well, sort of like us. Two of them had gotten the "Pick Two" lunch, and had a half sandwich and soup; the other one had a whole sandwich. I kept trying to see what flavor soup and sandwiches they had, so I could know if the kind I usually ordered was holy enough. I saw one of them start to say grace, so I leaned really far over in their direction so I could get in on some of that blessing, because L. and I are usually so anxious to get to our talkfest that we skip grace completely. (I'm pretending here that I often say grace, which I don't, so that's probably a sin right there. The Sin of Posing.)
L. and I kept talking, our conversation punctuated by me saying "oops" every few minutes when I used words that sounded a lot like "duck" or the first part of "shitake mushrooms." There was something about those three collars barely a foot away that made my language take on the spiciness of evenings spent hanging around the seedy side of town. I couldn't help it!
But those padres didn't blink an eye. In fact, they started talking about their favorite soups, and in case you ever need to know this, priests like creamy tomato, broccoli cheddar and chicken noodle.
That got my attention right away, because I like broccoli cheddar, too, and that made me pledge to myself, right then and there, to watch my language the next time I was sitting near any clergymen in Panera's.
Hmmm. Broccoli cheddar. I never would have guessed it. Priests! They really ARE just like us!
© 2015 A Bit of Brie/Anitabrie
