buddy of hisRalph was a vegetarian

it was always a trip going to dinnernot that they did it very often more often they met for a drink then Catchya at work tomorrow

          which they rarely did because they were in different departments if they crossed paths it was usually him reaching out for explanations that would allow him to do his job better he wasnt afraid to ask on the other hand his superior was so they didnt he quit telling them he had many managers over the years he was going over their heads he just did  other management heads also learned their titles carried no weight with him Yare the perfect person to ask an I hate wasting my time  he never said he hated wasting theirs or apologised for darkening their doorways  however he genuinely expressed his gratitudethanked them for sharing their time their expertise and seeing him they recognised long ago they had to see him because he wasnt going anywhere

                                                               he and Ralph were on friendly terms because they didnt work together

at dinner on occasion Ralph asked the server for a vegetarian burger he would then give him that Wait for it look which he volleyedthey were on the same page Would you like bacon with that? Ralph was always magnanimous No thank you. but hebecause of his nature speared it out of the air and tossed it at their feet like a flopping fish  Id think if he wanted strips of pig he would have ordered them the usual was Well, sometimes people forget to order it with their burger. they were upselling he didnt replyhed already dismissed them

Why do you do that?

Why don you Afraid theyre gonna spit in your food

No, they’ll spit in your food.

Ralph was ever slow on the uptake or maybe thats how infrequently they went out for a bite he didnt order hed have a whisky an beer enjoy Ralphs company take the bus home prepare his own meal he hardly ever pissed himself off enough to spit in his food not that that would matter

whenever he referred to quail he called it frecklebreasted

                                                           eyebrows leapt men an womens Wha I dig freckled breasts

usually thereafter only an on the sly womens eyebrows went up again  his interest was their audience

some guys who tried to stay in play intimated the bird wasnt a quail rather a ptarmigan the name great fungreater fun the way it looks Nah grouse is considerably larger than a frecklebreasted quail

                                                                             he didnt play a game of tug of war while they were rubbing dirt or spitting in their hands he already yanked the hemp out of their reach

                                                                                               he wasnt good at sharing

only brought enough for himself

quail grouse are tasty game birds

however like vegetarian meals

they shouldnt be wrapped with pig

fact of the matter was the only plate he enjoyed with bacon was a BLT thickcut bacon brownsugar cured black pepperedHeaven chewy sourdough not iceberg tomato slabs whole Claussen Kosher dill pickles black olives variety of thicksliced cheeses potato salad cold beer

                                                actually a recipe to steal his heart

   

lets go with 5PMish,  Saturday,  22  1. 22

2351,  Thursday,  24  3. 22