10:55 p.m. | 2004-02-07 If Flirting Is Wrong Then I Don�t Want To Be Right. I went to brunch today, as is my normal Saturday tradition. If you�re not in the know about that, I started going to brunch to carry on a father-daughter �tradition� after MyDad�s death a little over a year ago. See, my dad and I use to go out to breakfast every morning during the last couple of years that I lived with him. That was back when I was a teenager, of course, but apparently, those were impressionable years. Probably because, after I graduated high school, he left the country for 20 years so we didn�t hang out much after that. Anyway, at breakfast, we ate and read the paper together. Which is kind of like sharing a meal and the news together, but separately. However, it worked for us. We discussed the news and whatnot when we went to dinner together later. Yeah, neither of us cooked back then. Strangely, both my father and I continued to be habitual about eating at particular restaurants regularly. Albeit, we were on different continents. After he died, I realized that I really missed sharing that with him. If I could go back and change one thing, I�d go �out� to breakfast or dinner with MyDad one more time. And, we�d either read the paper together or discuss the news. That�s a toss up there. So, as a �grieving tool�, if you will, I started going out to brunch on Saturdays �with MyDad� about a year ago. He attends in spirit while I attend in person. But, we both read the paper and eat. Okay� that�s a stretch. Unless it was a TV show. Then it would involve special effects, halos and whatnot. In other words, I go to brunch every Saturday and eat, read the paper and honor MyDad�s spirit. However, as more time passes, it�s more about me than MyDad. I still consider it a �sacred� tradition, but I don�t grieve as much. I call that �moving on� but feel free to call it something else. Either way, it doesn�t make him any less dead. Just to put a fine point on it. With that logic, I consider it a good sign that I now flirt with my regular waiter. While I�m eating and reading the paper. He�s handsome, I�ll give you that. But, more importantly, he�s a great waiter and� well, he flirts first. (Like Austin Austin actually.) And, he knows that I love me some brewed, Lipton ice tea, with lemon and no sweetener which I will suck the first glass down before he comes back to take my order. Hence, he brings me a refill when he comes back, five minutes later, to take my order. He also knows that I�ll roll my eyes for him when he encounters rude and incorrigible customers. It�s just an understanding that we have between us. He brings me everything I want, without disturbing me, and I roll my eyes and stare down rude customers for him. Well, and we flirt. Today, he was dismayed to find that, when I went to pay my bill, the cashier was indulging a grateful customer who was flirting with her. I�m a patient person. And, hell, I had to go grocery shopping after brunch, so I was happy to just stand/lean around and wait. However, my waiter (moniker in the making) rushed over to check me out, so to speak. It was cute. He�s a waiter, not a cashier so he kind of messed all that up, but he was concerned that I had to wait. Or maybe, I�m reading too much into that. Maybe he was just flirting. Or perhaps, he�s just into providing great customer service. No matter. I appreciated his efforts. And his flirting. Then, of course, I had to go grocery shopping. Ugh. It went pretty well but I�m still confused about the man-huddle in the meat section. That actually sounds pretty provocative, however, it was mostly just confusing and annoying to me. I had to wait until they were all done hovering over diced animals before I could go in for my kill. So to speak. Really, five men all gathered up in a bunch in the meat section? That�s not within my normal shopping experience. But, the shopping went well and was garnished with some flirting by the bagboy. I hate to call him that, but I don�t know what the proper term is anymore. He seemed disappointed that I declined his offer to �help me out to my car�. Damn my independent nature. your thoughts? seed flower