Saturday, July 31, 2010

i thought freestyle was just for olympic skiing . . .

so today . . . we ate lunch at hometown buffet.

i like hometown buffet. i am the only one in my family who does. diandra refuses to eat there--she will go across the parking lot and eat all by herself at panda express rather than come into hometown buffet with us. rollie's reactions are mixed. he can usually find something he likes, but it is definitely not his favorite place to eat--it is probably not even in his top five.

that is, until today . . .

we went to hometown buffet today, because we were avoiding carbs, and there are a lot of carb-less choices there. (well, if you stay away from the dessert area and the cinnamon rolls--which they inexplicably put on the salad bar!!!) i came back from the salad bar with a plate full of yummy stuff. rollie came back with a plate full of tiny tomatoes and cucumber slices. and three sodas.apparently our hometown buffet has upgraded their soda fountain. they now have the new "freestyle" coke machine. we now have more beverage choices than anyone needs. there are soda choices in this machine that are not even available anywhere else! rollie's first three choices were grape coke, vanilla coke, and peach fanta. yes, he is somewhat partial to fruit flavors . . .

i had a diet coke. with a lemon slice from the taco bar. i am so adventurous . . .

rollie was pretty excited about his drink choices. i was not so sure. i'm not adverse to a vanilla coke now and then, but grape coke?!?!? raspberry coke?!?!? i'm sorry, but that is just WRONG!!! rollie, however, seemed to think it was delcious! i think he made more trips to the freestyle coke machine than he did to get food!!and i had a diet coke. with a real lemon slice in it.

i did take a sip of his grape coke (it was gross!) the vanilla coke was pretty good. i declined his offer of a taste of the peach fanta. but the point is, there were drinks of just about every flavor in this machine. rollie continued to drink, and i went back to get some meat.

i could tell rollie was enjoying his beverages. even as he sat drinking one of them, i could see the wheels turning inside his head, already thinking about what he was going to have next . . . that is the thing about this machine--there are over 100 choices!

rollie had a big smile on his face the whole time we were there. he said it was the best meal ever from hometown buffet. but he didn't really mean meal--he meant he liked the beverage choices.

i don't think i am a fan. the machine was cool, the technology of it is interesting, (because they are not keeping a supply of 100 different drinks in there--think about it,) and it is nice to have all of the choices. but only one person can use it at a time! and because of all those choices it can take that one person a looooong time to decide what to fill their glass with, so the wait to quench your thirst can be daunting . . .

in the end, i still got the same drink i always get--diet coke with lemon. because that is what i like. and this new machine? i'm glad it is there, because now rollie will jump at the chance to eat at hometown buffet. but for me, it just adds one more layer to my own personal hell--a place where i have to make more decisions . . .

4 comments:

Carroll said...

Loved it! The question is: Did Rollie ever eat any food or did he just drink his meal? Sounded like too much fun to me. Wish we culd have joined you just to watch the action I don't like Hometown Buffet either. In fact I don't like buffets period. If I'm going out to eat, I like to be waited on. Love you!

Albert said...

hey rollie. they have the same machine at mcdonalds on carmineta and south(orangethorpe).

Jewelielyn said...

albert! don't tell him that!! the soda machine is the only thing that gets him to go to hometown buffet with a smile on his face!

mom said...

I love hometown buffet also. I just love all the choices and especially I love the dessert bar. I usually eat salads and desserts. When I was in high school, the local drugstore served cherry cokes at their fountain. That was always my choice. Glad the soda fountains I making a comback...