Ratatouille - kind of

I have long told my sister, Molly, to write a book. The strangest and funniest things always seem to happen to her. I swear if she were to write a collection of short stories of all the things she has seen and experienced, the pages would stretch from here to Seattle and back!

Because Molly won't write them down, I am am taking it upon myself to steal them. Yep, that's right. Because strange, funny and bizarre things RARELY happen to me and seem to always happen to her, I might just have to blog about her life to keep things interesting. (Besides, how much talk about pregnancy can one really endure - I know I am sick of it!)

So here goes the first of Molly's life adventures....

Last night Molly and a friend went to dinner at one of our favorite Seattle restaurants, Cedars. Some of you Seattleites/UWers might know it. It is on 50th in the University District and serves Indian food at college student prices.

So Molly and her friend finish their dinner and are getting ready to pay when the "decor" on the walls starts moving. (Mind you, the decor is a GIANT spider plant that has lived in this restaurant soooo long it now winds around the entire restaurant several times.) So the decor starts to move and out from the spider plant jumps a RAT! Yes, you read that correctly. A RAT! It jumped out of the plant and down onto one of the patron's tables and scuttled around the packed dining room. Molly - shocked and disgusted - screams "RATTT", jumps up and heads for cover. The owner quickly runs over to Molly to shut her up. To calm her down says, he says, "Don't worry. It was just a rat. Happens all the time."

WHAT?!? Happens all the time?! Not being able to hold back her shock and utter disgust, Molly tells the owner that having a rat in a restaurant is disgusting. Just for background, Molly and her friend have taken cover near the exit while everyone in the restaurant continues calmly eating. NO ONE else was alarmed by the fact that a rat was flying through the restaurant. In fact, one hippy-esque customer said loud enough for all the diners to hear that rats are one of the cleanest animals and that there was nothing to worry about. Yeah, that is why rats are directly linked to some of the most deadly diseases. Does the Black Plague ring any bells??

Molly and the owner continue to discuss the situation and Molly assumes that after such a horrifying experience, one can't be expected to pay? Can they? Well, the owner, now livid that Molly might be walking out on her bill, claims that all restaurants in Seattle have rats and that Molly must pay for her meal.

Molly, still horrified and verging on pissed off, reiterates that having a rat in a restaurant is disgusting. Her friend chimes in that this incident is on par, if not worse, than finding a hair in your food and one certainly is not expected to pay for that! The owner, who obviously can't fathom Molly's shock and awe, literally starts yelling at Molly to pay, calls her disgusting and then tells Molly she is no longer welcome in the restaurant. WHAT?!?!

Let's review. A restaurant - which is by no means clean to begin with, rat or no rat - just had a rat run through it's dining room, ON THE TOPS of tables while people are eating and Molly is the disgusting one who is no longer welcome to the restaurant? Where's Ashton? Where's the candid camera? Is this really happening?

Yes, in fact this did happen. At some point today, Molly plans on posting comments on citysearch.com and other websites that review restaurants - including the Department of Health. She's already sent something into the Stranger. I'll have to get more details because I can't wait to see what she writes. I will keep you posted.

Obviously, Molly will never go back, nor will I and I encourage anyone else who knows the place to keep moving.

Now isn't that story a bit more exciting (and tummy turning) than a quick story about how my fingers are so big and fat I can no longer wear my wedding rings or how the iron supplements I have to take make me nauseous?? Thanks Molly!