I try to go out for a pub lunch by myself about once a month. I drink a couple beers, read the newspaper, and eat something a cardiologist wouldn’t touch. Four Pines in Manly is one of my spots. It’s open for lunch, has good beer, good food, and lots of fresh air.
I was sitting at a hightop making my way through my second pint and a bacon burger when the woman a few tables over screamed like she’d be stabbed and jumped to her feet slapping at her leg like she was trying to put out a fire. Everyone in the pub stopped eating for a moment and looked up, then everyone gave a little chuckle and went back to their meal. I wasn’t close enough to see exactly what happened, but it’s a safe bet that a roach or spider ran over her leg while she was sitting.
When we lived in Chicago, I’d sometimes stop at the Rainforest Cafe on the way home from daycare with my then 3-year-old to get him some nuggets. It was an easy way to inject a little fun into dinner when my wife was away, and I’d get to have a happy hour beer while he ate. On our last trip, just before they went out of business, a roach ran across our table while he was eating. He stopped eating, I showed our waitress the video, and they gave us another meal (and beer) for free to go.
The attitude here is quite different. Big spiders, roaches, snakes, whatever…they’re all just nature and come with the territory. If you get freaked out by a possum sniffing around your table on the wharf at Skiff club, we’ll that’s on you, he was here first.