Life away ‘from home

Sometimes you take the simple things for granted, forgetting to appreciate the little idiosyncrasies in life.

I’m as guilty as any other, but I’m quickly learning things aren’t always quite as they appear.

When was the last time you really stopped to consider a dairy product?

We went to Denny’s the other Sunday, my American friends and I. I’m new here. Keen, eager to experience the United States first-hand and see for myself what it’s really like to live in the most talked-about nation on Earth.

“I scooped up the alleged ice cream and found myself trying
to get rid of the over-sized dollop of whipped butter in my mouth.”

“What’s wrong with that?” you may ask. It gets me into trouble; it’s as simple as that. But it’s worth it, every time, because I love my life as a foreign student.

Back to Denny’s. The first thing I liked about it is that it’s open 24 hours but doesn’t look quite like your typical all-night-long establishment; the ones I had been to in Europe are all somewhat scruffy and badly lit. If you are weird enough to want to have a meal at 4 a.m. over there, you should suffer for it — seems to be the reasoning behind this. At Denny’s, they seem to be committed to recreating a proper breakfast atmosphere anytime of the day. I love breakfast — not that I don’t like all the other meal times — but breakfast has something special about it, something optimistic and fresh. I was happy to be there.

My happy contemplation was interrupted with the arrival of my pancakes and syrup. I was delighted. They even put some ice cream on top of my pancakes, which was gently starting to melt. Before anyone could say anything, I scooped up the alleged ice cream and found myself trying to get rid of the oversized dollop of whipped butter in my mouth.

I tried to keep my composure and not make a scene (I didn’t want everyone in the whole restaurant to know I was a greenhorn in the Wild West). I thought this could have happened to anyone; we don’t have whipped butter where I come from and especially not shaped with little miniature ice-cream-scoops.

Yet, it made my friends’ day, and although you guys don’t have a word for “Schadenfreude,” I was reminded that the sentiment of “pleasure at others’ expense” is universal.

It’s those small differences that make every day here an adventure. I just hope my cholesterol count can take the punishment.

Jutta Tobias is a columnist for the Daily Evergreen at Washington State University.
This column was distributed by U-Wire.