An Awkward Double Date

Did I catch your attention with the title?
Don't get too excited or think that I am not keeping you up-to-date on my life.
I was on an awkward double date last night, but I was the fifth wheel.
The couples, you ask? My parents.  And my Godparents.  Ever done that before?  Me neither!

Yesterday was my mom's birthday, and my Godparents (my parents' best friends) called to see if they wanted to go out to celebrate.  Somewhere along the line, all the daughters (there are five of us all together) that are local were invited to come along.  Their youngest daughter and I went to dinner with them.  Then M went home, and I continued on with them for the rest of the evening.

What did we do, you ask?

We went to cooking school.

The Concept: Big audience, professional chef with lots of back stage help, yummy recipes made before your eyes.  All of the perks of a cooking show, but it was live and you had the chance to win the food.  But more on prizes later.

So, my mom and Godmother loved this.  I think I enjoyed it too, but it was for a different reason.  Anyone who knows my dad knows that this is not his kind of thing.  He and my Godfather are hard working, get your hands dirty, and then have a beer kind of guys.  My Godfather was a very good sport, and my dad attempted.  Needless to say, when we found our seats, the ladies were on my right and the guys were on my left.  I was in the middle of two very different sets of conversations.

For Example:


(When the chef handed a dish off to a helper to have it put in the oven:)
Chef: This is Mark.  Isn't Mark great!
The Ladies: That's nice that she has help- just like the magic of TV.
The Men: She has a manservant!

(As the host was drawing for prizes throughout the show:)
Chef: You could win this specialty gift basket!...
The Ladies: Ooo, I hope we win that.  Men, if you win, you will have to give that to me.
The Men: Win? We can't win.
The Ladies: Yes you can.  You paid for a ticket just like everyone else.  That means that you have the right to put your door prize slip in the drawing. You can too win.
The Men: We didn't turn in our door prize slip.  We didn't want to fill it out and we didn't want to win any of this stuff anyway.
The Ladies: WHAT!!! You just decreased our winning odds by half!
(This argument continued for the rest of the night. For the record, none of us won anything.)

(While watching cooking trivia on the screens in between demonstrations:)
Chef: So, can anyone tell me what Ghee is?
The Ladies: Clarified butter.  The trivia just showed us how to make it.
The Men: Well of course.  I didn't need the stinkin' trivia. I already knew what Ghee was.  Didn't you?

(When the chef was advertising a strawberry cutter-gadget that she thought would be fun for kids to use in the kitchen. She was attempting to shoot the strawberries across the kitchen:)
Chef: Isn't that fun!!!
The Ladies: Yes, fun until someone loses a finger.
The Men: And then it's hilarious.

And so it continued.

So, if you are ever looking for a fun night out, make plans with your parents and their friends.  You might be in for more than you bargained for.