Saving Chef Boy-R-Dee

Last night a couple friends of ours came over. Erin apparently refers to them as our “Yard Sale Friends”. I’m still not quite sure what to think about that one. If she said that around others they may think that we get together and go yard sailing often, maybe we should start?

I cooked dinner last night, something I have not done in a while. I miss it and can see doing a good bit more of it in the weeks/months to come. It came out tasting pretty good and I have at least 3 witnesses to speak on my behalf. While we were eating, Brian, our guest, told a story of his runaway Chef Boy-R-Dee can. In short the story is something that commercials are made out of.

Long story short he decided to take a large can of Chef Boy-R-Dee in for lunch. He is a PhD student at Virginia Tech and like the rest of us he gets a craving for the Chef’s Ravioli every once in a while. He tells how he hopped out of his vehicle, loaded up his arms with books, slung a computer case over his shoulder and last but not least tied on a Kroger bag holding a large can of the Chef’s finest. And then it happened, the Kroger bag could not contain a can of that size. The bag ripped and the can went rolling, Brian had a decision to make. Was he going to chase the can across the parking lot, weaving in and out of traffic, possibly under cars and the like? Or would he let it go its own way?

He chose the former, hands loaded with the knowledge of chemists throughout the ages and a computer worth thousands, head into the wind, chasing down the large can after it had tried to outmaneuver and outrun him. These are the things heroes and good commercials are made of…

He shoved the can in his pocket and went to cross a small stretch of road to his building. I wish I could say this was the end of the story, but alas it was not. He approached the crosswalk as cars stopped and lined up awaiting his crossing. Just then, in the middle of the road the can made a jump for it. There it lay, in the middle of the road. Split second decision, to pick it up or ignore it with all of the onlookers. Our hero chose the tough road of stooping down to swoop the can up. This just goes to show how much the Chef means to him…

As for the ravioli, it made one last escape attempt. At approximately lunch time the can was opened and dumped on to a plate a little too small, then the ravioli one by one tried to escape the confines of both the can and the plate…

Hope this story finds you well; it had me crying last night. I am thankful for friends and good stories, we all need both.