Saturday, June 24, 2006

We're back in New York at a small downtown restaurant. I peruse the menu's few options, not really finding anything I like. Service is slow and we finally get our waitress's attention. We order our food and I ask to make a substitution on one of the items. She leaves and we never see her again. I flag down another waiter and he's also a bit indifferent. Our food comes and my salad has a lot of sand in it (though I don't really feel it). I flag down an older, skinny waiter and ask if I can send the salad back for a few fresh pieces of washed greens. He looks at me and says no. I'm flabbergasted and ask him why. He says that they don't really do substitutions and that the menu is carefully put together, etc. I calmly ask him for the check and to see the owner. He tells us to follow him and we head to the back of the restaurant.

He opens a door in the floor and goes down. We follow and have to swing down some strange stairs. I make sure Susannah is following before we head on. As we walk, the waiter tells me that the chef & owners are very particular about the dining experience. I tell him that we understand and I am in fact a bit of a food snob myself. I explain that the customer should still be able to get what he wants, even if it doesn't agree with the restaurant's ideas. I tell him that I don't stop people from ordering sweet & sour pork.

We head into a slum-like basement several levels below ground. There are a number of people, all restaurant employees, sleeping in cots. I tell the waiter that I'd heard about places like this but never seen one. He points me to where the owner is and we leave him at his bed. I look through the cracks in the door of a large warehouse and see people I think are the owners. I begin preparing my complaint but suddenly realize I have to use the bathroom. I head back to the street and look for a restroom.

I'm back in my old house using the bathroom. The toilet has deep urine stains and I'm spraying them off with my pee. I suddenly realize that the new owners have already taken possession and I wonder why they're not here.

Later...

I'm in a large department store and I've lost sight of Sofia. I start running around, looking at anyone with a baby. The store starts to clear out and I still can't find her. I desperately wander the streets, not sure what to do. Finally, I see someone carrying a baby up some stairs into an apartment. I follow them into a dining room where a family is having dinner. Sofia is at the table and run and snatch her up. I berate the older couple at the table for kidnapping her. Susannah is also there and I ask her how long she's been there. She says half an hour. I yell at her for not calling me, for letting me wander the streets thinking the worst. As I storm out, I take a picture of the name plaque on the door so I can lead police here later. Even though the couple seemed kind of pitiful, I'm fully planning to prosecute them.

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