Fatale Abstraction

This photo was taken in the Luby's Cafeteria over on Mockingbird between Skillman and Abrams last week.

I loves me some Luby's. I probably eat at one Luby's or another around town 4 or 5 times a week, minimum. The great thing is you can get plain-jane vegetables, choose sensibly from the entrees and if you manage not to make sweet love to the come-hither pie shelf, well, you can have a guilt-free, healthy meal that's not aneurysm-on-a-plate.

I understand people who are careful what they eat, and that is admirable, to a point. Then again, one would hate to go overboard. I mean, the people who exercise obsessively claim they add years to their life by doing so, and yet, what's the good of an extra year of life if by the end of the day, you've spent 3 or 4 years of your life in a nasty gym with a bunch of manky arseholes who couldn't manage a conversation gripping enough for a department-store dummy?

Anyhoo, today my mind cast back to one event past, and life's little irony made me giggle.

Someone in my acquaintance sat at a dinner table with a group of people about 13 years ago, and when his burger was brought to the table, he was upset to see it arrive replete with lettuce and tomatoes. I said "you don't like that stuff on your burger?" and he said "I don't eat rabbit food. I hate vegetables. Never eat 'em."

I shrugged. Chacun à son goût. Or as my mom says it, "there's no accounting for taste."

Flash forward these many moons to find he has married [record scratch effect here] a dietician, and now he only eats vegetables, tofu and grainy-type dishes reminiscent of cardboard and sawdust. On super-special rare occasions as a treat, he gets to eat beef cooked to a tasteless gray. Yum!

So recently, a group of people were going out to eat at Luby's, including this guy, and he asked if the wife wanted to come and she said "No. They don't have anything I can eat there."

Suit yourself, petal. Happy trail mix to you.

OH, and for the record -- three of the best cafeterias I've ever found are 1. Luby's near the highway in Wichita Falls (I had some squash there once that nearly made me weep!), 2. Furr's in Roswell, NM - fantastic place, good food, and lots of military folk eating there - what's not to like. Oh, and they have a little old blind guy sing and play his electric piano there sometimes, and 3. Bryce's Cafeteria in Texarkana - When in season, you can get fried green tomatoes at this one - heaven.

Honorable Cafeteria mention goes to Casa Linda Cafeteria, formerly Highland Park Cafeteria. They were turned out of their lease a couple months back, despite their booming business. Such a tragedy - this was the SE corner of Garland and Buckner, and was worth the drive, frankly. Tragic loss to the city. I hope they'll open again elsewhere.