Yesterday, for the first time in about 15 days — except for a mid-week visit to the doctor — I ventured out to Walgreen’s and an awesome little Asian noodle place.

Pho is  a popular weekday lunch spot for my friends and me. Noodles, soup, fresh herbs. PERFECT for a recovering bioterrorism victim. My friends Jennifer and Diane, by the way, turned me onto Pho. Since they’re librarians, they researched the whole concept of Asian noodles. Learn more here.

So I walked into Pho on Grand Saturday, grabbed a menu, and made my rather large to-go order. As I waited, I noticed there were 3 Caucasians in the jam-packed restaurant. Every other table was comprised of between four to six Asian patrons, ranging in age from 2 to 72. Multiple generations of families, gathering for a meal at Pho on Grand.

Most were talking in their primary languages, laced with an occasionally-recognizable word in English.

As I closed my eyes and waited on my order, I heard one man at the cash register pay for everyine at his table and “that table in the back.” Later, I figured out the gentleman had paid for a police officer’s lunch — anonymously — and left before the patrolman could do anything about it.

I loved being in the moment — I was an observer, not a participant. Enjoying a pocket of Asian culture in Fort Smith, Arkansas. I like living in a place where I can walk into a minority role, comfortably, effortlessly.

It was difficult to keep my eyes closed for very long, because across the restaurant was a family with 2 small children — a boy and a girl no more than 4 years old. The boy was squealin and hollerin and climbing on the table. His mom was trying to keep hin under control, but he was a handful.

Here’s the funny thing about the whole thing — the couple with the children got their food and grabbed their chopsticks, as did the other adults at the table. The children, though, broke out big bags of Chick-Fil-A. Ahhhhh, nuthin like a bag of fast food to burst my “place” bubble and remind me I’m not in another world so far away…

Me? I brought home 2 big bags of soup and noodles. Ate some of it yesterday — without chopsticks. T’was easily the most I’ve eaten in 2 weeks. It tasted soooooooo good! I may have another helping for breakfast. 😉