Time To Myself

Time To Myself

I woke up on the third of April in the year 2022 with the idea to go out and do something for myself. It was an exciting feeling. I’ve always been the kind of person who feels guilty whenever they put themselves first. Being selfish somehow came across as being wrong.

Not anymore.

I have learned that to an extent it’s important to be selfish. With this newfound outlook on life the only thing left to ask was, “What was Lorenzo going to do for Lorenzo?

Well, I decided I would go and see Morbius. I was curious to see how it would pan out. Plus, I am a huge fan of the Marvel movies. With an idea of what to do and the resolve to just do it, I needed to set a destination. There are plenty of movie theatre’s around. Time wouldn’t be an issue. It was around 10:30 when I decided a “me” day. I like catching early movies to avoid big crowds and the theatres in my area usually open between 11 and 11:30.

Ultimately, I would pick the AMC at Bowie Town Center. It afforded me access to one of my favorite restaurants. Smokie Bones. Usually, I would opt for a closer venue like Largo Town Center even with the allure of Southern cuisine. I don’t drive and taking Uber can be quite expensive. However, setting a price on me and my happiness seemed like an idiotic thing to do. So, I dished out that $25.00 and before I knew it, I had arrived in front of Smokie Bones, eager to eat. LOL!

When you first walk in, there’s the service counter just ahead. Another customer was just finishing up. The young man behind the booth proceeded to ask if I’d be picking up or dining in, to which I responded, “I’m going to sit and eat.” It felt good to say that. Having the luxury of a nice, quiet meal was all I could think about.

After only a five-minute waiting period I was seated and immediately begin looking over the menu. As I mentioned before, Smokie Bones is one of my favorite restaurants, so the menu pretty much featured the same items with a few seasonal exceptions. There was a specialty Louisiana barbecue shrimp that was very appealing and a strawberry chocolate cheesecake that caught my attention. Ultimately, I was in a familiar territory kind of mood.

I started out with an order of their Brown Sugar wings to which my server responded, “I’m sorry. Did you say barbecue?” To which I responded, “Yeah.” A mistake that would come back to bite me. I was really looking forward to having the Brown Sugar wings. Admittedly, I was nervous. When eating out for the most part I’ve always been with other people, mostly with bigger personalities. Even though I may have found myself in the spotlight, no one’s attention was ever fully focused on me. Sitting in the booth by my lonesome with my waiter giving his undivided attention like an excellent service representative would do, I felt ashamed and guilty. What if people think I’m greedy if I order a certain amount of food? What if my server finds my food selection to be unorthodox or weird or just plain crazy? What if I annoyed my server by constantly making changes to my order?

In the end I decided against making any changes. However, I now know that I really need to build my self-confidence. If I am to truly enjoy myself, I need to be comfortable. Even so, it wasn’t all bad. Afterall, I did decide to go out and celebrate me. I did manage to leave the house. I did manage not to come up with excuses. I did sit in the booth alone, eating a meal.

After I placed an order of the wings, I ordered a sweet tea and my main course which was the Smokehouse Chicken Sandwich. It comes with a bourbon barbecue sauce, and I usually add on chipotle mayo. Once again, I didn’t. Even before I started eating, I realized what was missing but didn’t let my server know. I was definitely nervous. Regardless, I didn’t let my insecurities ruin my meal. The barbecue wings were delicious, my Smokehouse Chicken Sandwich was amazing, especially since there was an assortment of barbecue sauce’ in the booth to choose from. The tea was just how I like it. Sweet and Cool.

Once I finished with the appetizers and main course for dessert, I decided to go with their cornbread that comes with honey pecan butter. And yes, it is just as delicious as it sounds. My mouth is still watering. Just take a look at the pic.

Yeah. I know…

Once I was done with this delectable dessert, I made sure to tip my waiter well for his exceptional service. Then I proceeded to the movie theatre which is behind the restaurant.

The movie started at 2:50 and there were only two of us in the showroom. No spoilers but the movie was good. I might’ve enjoyed myself better if I had someone to watch it with. There were parts of the movie where I felt a faint chill. Not the ominous kind but the sad and lonely kind. With that aside, I really did enjoy my “me” day. Can’t wait until my next outing. It’ll be somewhere more public. Maybe I’ll even make a new friend.