Peanuts and Coca-Cola

When I was a little girl, my daddy used to take me to the local store and buy us both a cold bottle of Coke and a pack of peanuts as a special treat. You would take the peanuts and empty the bag into your bottle, and enjoy the ambrosia that is peanuts and "co-cola". You don't see that much anymore, I guess because a) you can't easily get glass bottles of Coke anymore, and b) it's kind of gross if you think about it.

I was reminded of that recently when the significant other and I were dining at the Italian restaurant in town. They had recently remodeled and re-opened their doors promising "gourmet" food, so we excitedly gussied up and went, having tired of Cracker Barrel.

An elderly couple came in and sat down in the booth behind us. Obviously country folk, she wearing her best day dress, he wearing his best overalls, they looked bewildered at what had happened to their local pizza place and sat in silence, darting little uncomfortable glances at the other people there. Being notoriously nosey, I ceased listening to the SO, and immediately went on point, intrigued.

The server, who used to be a down-to-earth waitress before the great makeover and was obviously underwhelmed by it all, shuffled over with the complimentary appetizer and dropped it down on the table with a clunk.

"What is THAT?" asked the elderly gent. "I dunno, honey, but it's free", said the waitron-turned-server, who quickly scurried away from the confused pair. "It's bruschetta.", I pipe up from my side of the adjoining booth. I had, of course, been waiting for just such a chance to get closer in my eavesdropping attempt.

"Brewshitta?" queried the lady, peering suspiciously at the offending food item. "You know, it's Italian. Like pizza." I answered helpfully. "Well, I don't know about all that ..." muttered the man and the pair slumped back into silence, glaring balefully at the plate.

It struck me then how fast the world is changing for people like them. Imagine it; one day you're out farming your tobacco fields and enjoying your peanuts and coke, the next day tobacco farming is dead and a snotty chick in a jumped-up pizza joint is lecturing you on some weirdo foreign food.

As they say in the South, bless their hearts.