Step No. 24 - Always take advantage of crayons and restaurant placements

The fresh placemat.
It awaits my blunt Crayola.

When I was elementary school-aged not many restaurants entertained the idea of creating placemats that served the dual purpose of providing entertainment for the wee ones and protecting tabletops from spills and stray ketchup splashes. One never saw crayons at the table unless brought in by the parents. Increasingly I've noticed that many family restaurants have their own paper placements to be colored with crumbly communal crayons contained in short battered cups, often stored by the cash register.

You win this round, placemat.
I'll see to you later.

While on a conference trip in February, I frequented a diner that included both coloring placemat and crayons. The server didn't so much as flinch when I picked up my juvenile art accoutrements. I stared at my menu quickly, picked the first thing that looked appealing, and turned my attention back to staying within the lines. My food arrived before I could finish my objet d'art, so I took it with me and purchased a pack of Crayolas at the nearest dollar store. I swore an oath to the placement, "I promise to return to you. I'll honor you with every last iota of my fine-muscle control."

I kept dear placemat in my bag over the course of the conference and looked at it briefly, if longingly every time I reached in for a pencil, notepad, or business card. It wasn't until days later when I got on the train to go back to Toronto that I returned to my unfinished project. The gentle sway of the train posed only a small challenge to staying in the lines; however, I finished the task with aplomb and cemented my self-inflated esteem as an expert crayola-wielding coloring master.

Says the Placemat to Anthony,
"You complete me." *shucks*

The moral of the story (I'm not sure that morality was an issue here, but I like how it sounds): never stifle your urge to grab the crayons and placemat to keep yourself amused while at a restaurant/café/bistro/tabehodai. Chances are your dining companion(s) has the same impulse. Should the server raise an eyebrow, have a friend relate an elaborate narrative about art school, etc. Or, as I hope you'll do, be proud and own your inner adolescent. Command the crayon do your bidding, and let the world know that if you want to make the princess's hair blue then blue hair she shall have.