One of my favorite things to do is take my son Rogan on date nights. And one of our favorite date night places is a casual restaurant in Springfield called Delia’s. They give him his own bowl of parmesan cheese with his pasta that he eats with his fingers, plus they have game night and kids eat for free on Mondays.
One week, I did not have Rogan on a Monday, so I took him to Delia’s on a Wednesday. We brought his binder of Pokemon cards so we could “battle.” This is a casual seat yourself restaurant, so I seated us at a booth in the back where our battling wouldn’t disrupt the other diners. The host warned me that a large party had reserved most of the back section and that they could be pretty loud.
“That’s okay so can we,” I told him. Plus I didn’t really want to move.
As we battled, members from the large party started trickling in one by one.
One guy on the younger side approached our table. “Oh Pokemon that’s a fun game,” he said.
“Umm yeah sure, I don’t think we’re playing it right but it’s teaching him math at least,” I replied.
“You really should learn how to play, it’s fun!” he told me.
“Okay sure,” I said. And then an older woman approach our table.
“Oh Pokemon! How fun!” she said.
“I’m sorry, are you guys here as some sort of meet up group?” I asked her.
In a hushed tone, she replied, “Yes, it’s a lifestyle group. Most of us have never met before.”
“Oh okay,” I told her. But really I had no idea what that meant.
As the restaurant started to fill, I sought to find anything in common with the individuals seated around me. The only thing I found–and there’s no polite way to put this–was that most of them were twos and threes. I would consider myself a six here in Virginia (though if I went to California I might be a four).
As we were leaving, my new friends said goodbye to me and wished me a good evening. Hmm. So friendly, I remembered thinking.
When I got home, I asked my friend Meaghan if she knew what a lifestyle group was. After some quick investigation, she realized that I not only accidentally stumbled upon a polyamory meetup (“lifestylers” is apparently a way that polyamorous people refer to themselves), but that I stumbled upon it with my five year old son in tow.
We have been back to Delia’s since then, but I do try to avoid it on Wednesdays now. At least when I have Rogan with me đ
